Janet Yellen - some perspective (chained CPI)

[BelgianMadCow]

Yellen supported a host of economic policies during the Clinton era that have since become broadly unpopular. She backed the repeal of the landmark Glass-Steagall bank reform and she supported the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement. She also pressured the government to develop a new statistical metric intended to lower payments to senior citizens on Social Security….

A full transcript of Yellen’s Feb. 5, 1997 confirmation hearing is available here. At the same event, Yellen endorsed establishing a new statistical metric that would allow the federal government to reduce Social Security payments over time, by revising the consumer price index, or CPI, the government’s standard measurement for inflation…Once in office, Yellen put that belief into action, writing a letter to the Bureau of Labor Statistics encouraging it to devise a cheaper inflation metric…

At the time, this new metric, known as chained CPI, was being aggressively pursued by House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), following then-Fed Chair Alan Greenspan’s criticism of the existing cost-of-living calculations…Some economists argue that a more appropriate inflation measure for Social Security would look at price changes for elderly people, and the BLS does track an experimental metric addressing inflation for older Americans. Such a metric is not useful for politicians looking to cut Social Security spending, however, as it shows that living expenses tend to go up more for older people, driven in part by health care spending.

Chained CPI has been a major point of contention in budget negotiations between Obama and congressional Republicans, with both camps alternating between supporting the measure and decrying it. Adopting Chained CPI to cut Social Security is extremely unpopular with both the general public and senior citizens.

The article on Naked Capitalism was very enlightening to me. Note that it does not dispute at all that Yellen is a much, erm, less bad choice for Fed chair. But it's always good to have the full picture. I refrained from posting it on DU when it came out, because all were (understandably) happy about Summers' nomination being shot down. But now it's relevant again, so I felt I had to.

[Jackpine Radical]

1. Truth can never be an unwelcome guest at our collective table.

Blinders cause Republicanism.

[KoKo]

13. +1

[ProSense]

2. Well,

"The article on Naked Capitalism was very enlightening to me. Note that it does not dispute at all that Yellen is a much, erm, less bad choice for Fed chair. But it's always good to have the full picture. I refrained from posting it on DU when it came out, because all were (understandably) happy about Summers' nomination being shot down. But now it's relevant again, so I felt I had to."

...that was mighty big of you. Why is this "relevant" now, and not several weeks ago? Do you think this should impact her nomination?

[BelgianMadCow]

3. it's relevant because she's a likely candidate for Fed chair

and because DU likes to have as much info as possible. And ALL info should be weighed in a nomination, yes. Whether a DU post accomplishes that, I have no idea.

[ProSense]

5. But why

"it's relevant because she's a likely candidate for Fed chair and because DU likes to have as much info as possible. And ALL info should be weighed in a nomination, yes. Whether a DU post accomplishes that, I have no idea."

...did you feel it was necessary to withhold the information until now? I mean, if your motive was to inform the discussion about possible nominees, why wait until the person is nominated?

[BelgianMadCow]

6. For exactly the reason I stated

you may choose not to believe it. We ARE anonymous persons on the internet.

[ProSense]

7. "I refrained from posting it on DU when it came out"

Apparently, that's not accurate: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023692136

[BelgianMadCow]

9. Ah, but you don't know

how many times I did NOT post it

But, good find. Now that you have succesfully discredited the messenger, care to comment on the substance of my OP?

[Pretzel_Warrior]

4. It's good you hid the source of your "analysis" in your link.

People might think that nakedcapitalism.com has an agenda it's working toward other than objective truth.

[BelgianMadCow]

8. Hidden? Lol, I wrote "Naked Capitalism". What do you think their agenda is?

The agenda I have seen so far is one of exposing the financial system which has brought us to ruin and continues to do so with impunity. Check out their series on the mortage forecosure reviews. It's on par with Matt Taibi's work. I 'like' that agenda.

So, what do you think their agenda is?

[brentspeak]

12. Congrats. You win Dumb Post of the Day

Naked Capitalism is probably the best finance industry watchdog site on the Web.

[KoKo]

10. Indeed...it's revealing reading

over there. 's.

[840high]

11. Thanks for posting.