Top 5 Myths About Chained-CPI, Debunked

[HarmonyRockets]

http://www.thenation.com/blog/173786/top-5-myths-about-chained-cpi-debunked

[MotherPetrie]

1. K&R.

[PA Democrat]

2. Recommended. Great graphs.

[tokenlib]

3. The so called "protections" do NOT make it all better..n/t

[DrDan]

4. this is going to help Dems in senate races

going to take us to 80!!!

Read it right here.

[rhett o rick]

5. Thank you very much and welcome to DU. nm

[jeff47]

7. IMO #2 is a little off

Because it's actually worse than their argument.

The theory behind chained CPI is that people will substitute when one particular good gets more expensive.

As in 100 people buy chicken, causing its price to rise. So next week, 20 people substitute pork and only 80 buy chicken.

Well, here's where the chained-CPI people are dumbasses: The regular CPI already handles such substitutions. If only 80 people buy chicken that next week, that reduces the inflationary pressure on chicken. So the price will go up by less in the 2nd week. Thus reducing the CPI compared to 100 people still buying chicken.

So the chained CPI supporters are wrong, even in their most basic justification.

[sendero]

14. The entire argument/..

.... that substitution is valid is ridiculous, just a way for the govt to understate inflation.

Declaring pork and chicken or bologna and ham or vodka and whiskey EQUIVALENT is a fiction dreamed up to fleece beneficiaries. Period. We're already doing it for CPI we don't need more of it.

Measuring inflation is pretty freaking easy. A commodity or service cost X this year and Y next. Compare them. ALL OTHER CALCULATIONS ARE PRESTIDIGITATIONS designed to get the desired (lower) number.

[xchrom]

8. Du rec. Nt

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. DU rules limit you to quoting 4 paragraphs from a copyright source, such as this

See http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=termsofservice

You can edit your post (see the link at the bottom right of the post).

[Triana]

10. Look at those graphs. It's a CUT. And a rather substantial one at that.

I'm with Rachel Maddow. I'm NOT buying it.

[grahamhgreen]

13. +1

[avaistheone1]

11. The thinking of the people who put this CPI Index together is alarmingly biased and shunted.

This thing is going to blow a lot of stuff up for many people including the politicians themselves.

Stupidity, greed reign supreme in Washington.

[femmocrat]

12. Excellent article.

thanks for posting it.

[Cleita]

15. Thank for this and welcome to DU.

The Nation always delivers the facts.

[ReRe]

16. Top 5 Myths about "chained-cpi"

K&R

You go, HarmonyRockets!