This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
America's Latest Proposal To Deal With Its Insolvency And Pursue Stealth Dollar Devaluation: Change The CPI
A few months ago we reported on Goldman's proposal to change the definition of GDP to make the US economy appear to be growing faster than it really is. So far, it has not caught on, as even the revised definition will soon confirm a contraction. But that proposal appears to have given Joe Biden some ideas, who now has taken the Fukushima approach to (sur)reality, whereby one merely changes the terms of data measurement when the data does not cooperate. Enter the revised CPI: "Lawmakers are considering changing how the Consumer Price Index is calculated, a move that could save perhaps $220 billion and represent significant progress in the ongoing federal debt ceiling and deficit reduction talks." And because nobody has an issue with the current artificial hedonic and otherwise adjustments to the CPI which always reflect a far lower increase in prices than what is actually happening, here comes the government with another idea to make inflation appear to be rising even slower: "According to congressional aides familiar with the discussions, the proposal would shift how the Consumer Price Index is calculated to reflect how people tend to change spending patterns when prices increase. For example, consumers tend to drive less when gas prices increase dramatically. Such a move is widely seen by economists as resulting in a slower rise in inflation. That would impact an array of federal programs that are linked to CPI including the Social Security program and income tax brackets set by the federal government. The proposal could lower federal spending by around $220 billion over the next decade, based on calculations by last year's White House deficit commission, which recommended the change as part of its final report." What does this mean practically? SImply said, the worst of all worlds for the US middle class: "[the proposal] would likely lead to both lower benefits paid to seniors and higher taxes paid by most people who pay federal income tax." We expect this last-ditch accounting gimmick will be implemented shortly, and the broader American population will not care one bit that it's purchasing power will see a step function drop yet again in the ongoing crusade to destroy the dollar.
More on this surreal idea which is actually being very seriously discussed in DC:
According to two congressional aides familiar with the budget negotiations, the shift is being "seriously discussed" as part of the ongoing talks to strike a budget deal, that would be used to ease the passage of a required increase in the country's debt limit.
Those talks involve Democratic and Republican lawmakers from both chambers and are led by Vice President Joe Biden. The group held its latest meeting Tuesday as they strive to reach the broad outlines of a compromise on federal spending by the end of the month.
In a press conference that took place before the meeting, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R., Va.) declined to comment on the specific proposal, other than to say that "a lot of things are on the table." But asked whether the proposal would be interpreted as a tax increase and therefore a non-starter for Republicans, Cantor said it could be seen as both impacting tax rates and benefits paid out by the federal government.
When asked about the idea after the meeting, Rep. Jim Clyburn (D., S.C.) said everything is being discussed.
It could be easier for both parties to agree on than a significant overhaul to the Medicare proposal or an increase of taxes on wealthier Americans.
"It's certainly something that is going to be considered," said James Horney, director of federal fiscal policy at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal think tank. "There are questions whether it would be politically easy."
Several senators that are not party to the Biden-led talks voiced support for the proposal including Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D., N.D.), while Sen. John Thune (R., S.D.), a member of the Republican leadership team, said it should be looked at as part of the negotiations.
Washington just took extend and pretend to a whole new level.
»
- 16135 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -
Wow, all that and a deficit reduction of $22B a year? What a deal.
Thats like 1 day of Bernanke POMO.
everytime budget cuts less than 100b are discussed that is always the first thing that comes to my mind.
Remember M3!
Let's just get this over with. Let Goldman decide what each person should pay in taxes, and let them collect it directly for themselves.
Who uses food and energy anymore?
New CPI needs to be based on Ipads and dildos
DPI: Dil-dough (i)Pad Index...
My advice to the Bernank, NerObama and CONgress if they really want to swing for the fences (aka keep on doing what they've been doing, only harder - destroying the economy):
Get the BLS to Adjust the CPI in the following ways -
1) Remove anything that is digestable.
2) Remove anything that is tangible.
3) Remove anything that constitutes a service.
4) Remove anything that has any relationship to or involvement with 'energy.'
5) Remove anything that is derived from commodities of any kind (see 2 above).
6) Remove anything containing High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), now known as Corn Sugar (contained in most Americans products).
7) Remove anything that is produced, manufactured, processed, designed, engineered, assembled, planned, or filmed, in whole or in part, either in the United States or in any other nation.
That should fix the inflation problem rightful concerns over inflation growing far more serious a problem in the coming months/years, and get Amerika back on track.
Not to mention fjuking buyers of TIPS....no worries the FED will destroy the dollar and buy up all the debt since no one else will....I smell a yard sale coming
It says 220b not 22.
Which is the same as
aha, thanks.
America runs on bullshit.
Just finnished reading "Atlas Shrugged" again. Whatever you think of Ayn Rand and her outfit, it is still quite unnerving in it's accuracy of the description of the "powers that be" and their manipulation of the unthinking masses. I think it is now more important than ever to be asking "Who is John Galt?", or more precisely "Do we deserve him?"
Tyler Durden = John Galt
nowhere man, please listen.....
Did that get your attention? ;-) A very purrrrrtinent question yuo ask in the end, and I'[ll take it that it is not rhetorical.
Do we deserve him? I say we are John Galt. I am John Galt.
It's going to take a collective initiative behind a seriously enlightened movement/person to turn this ship around or find a safe place, ark like, for next.
Cometh the hour, cometh the man/collective, eh?
ORI
http://aadivaahan.wordpress.com/2011/06/21/thunder-perfect-mind/
Excepting here, and a few other places on the web, I see very few "John Galt" types around today. Unfortunately, the character types portayed in Rand's earlier novel "We the Living" are much more common.
Been doing some re-reading as well...just started Fight Club for the third time - will have to re-read Atlas as well as The Fountainhead. Rec. Fountainhead if you've not already partaken.
Biden and Obama leading the parade..... or, rather, charade.
They are going to tax that next...fuel tax on bullshit.
Taxes on bullshit have been proven to close federal deficits since the beginning of human history in a matter of hours.
Chuck Norris retired from this job at the end of the gold standard.
This joins FASB 157 as an example of:
Trying to lie our way back to prosperity.
From the latest issue of The Privateer:
How did a US government “govern” a nation of 92 million people with an annual budget of $US 0.7 Billion and a TOTAL (funded and unfunded) debt of $US 2.7 BILLION one hundred years ago? The answer is very simple. For the most part, they didn’t. And because they didn’t, they didn’t indulge in economic make believe. They had no income tax to “fund” them and no central bank to print more money - if necessary.
Today, the US government “GOVERNS” 310 million people with an annual budget of nearly $4,000 Billion and a TOTAL (funded and unfunded) debt approaching $US 100,000 Billion. It takes about 5400 times as many Dollars and about 37000 times more debt to “govern” about 3.35 times as many people as it did a century ago. Why? The answer is equally simple. Today, the US government “governs” everything. It is all pervasive. It has taken over the economy from its people.
At the same time, the present government reassures the governed that the cost involved is not theirs to bear but can be perpetually shifted to future generations if only they will continue to go along with economic make believe. Officially, this is known as the “full faith and credit” of the US government.
Agreed. Who couldn't/wouldn't agree?
Stated somewhat differently:
Enron Ad: Why?
+1
And deflection. In the course of an ordinary hour on the msm, there isn't a country which isn't blamed for their woes except of course theirs.
It's an old and worn solution. If the facts are bad, change the facts and the way it is reported.
This is all part of their plan for FINANCIAL REPRESSION they claim inflation is 2% when it is 6-8%, they get more in taxes, pay less in benefits, next on the docket will be forced allocation of "safe" treasuries in pensions and retirement accounts, because the sheeple cannot handle the manipulated fluctuation inherent in the market. Throw in some capital controls and we are off to the races.
If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit.
Don't forget, if people are driving less because of high gas prices they must be walking more. All that exercise means they will live longer and social security should be pushed back to age 65 for eligibility. I am sure they already thought of this but won't implement it until after the CPI change. These guys are total douche bags.
Btw. I'm a vet using the gi bill to go to school. They are putting through sweeping changes to the gi bill now to where if a student has a hard time with a class required for a degree and doesn't pass it the first try, the gi bill will not pay for you to retake the class even though the gi bill is only limited to 3 years of use anyways. That means all those kids who joined the military because they didn't have the grades to get scholarships for college will now find themselves losing thei gi bill they earned from 4 years of military service too. The system is so fucked up.
Hey man (or lady),
thanks for your service and best of luck to you.
Thanks
I've seen the faces of the kids that joined the Armed Services. They are just kids. 18 and 19 years old, that don't have the money to pay for artificially high tuition caused by the federal student loans.
Recourse of many young people is to join the Armed Services in hopes of someday receiving an education for the sake of having a decent job.
Too bad, there is no recovery for jobs and those returning home won't find decent pay.
Reminds me of the last scenes from the movie 'Jarhead'.
Teach them to kill, destroy their ability to learn something else (not that they'd learn something new in college necessarily), then put them on the streets with no chance of getting a job.
I'm in that exact scenario you refer to. My parents couldn't afford to put me through college so I joined the armed services to get the gi bill. Trouble is the original gi bill couldn't cover the cost of tuition at most colleges and the new gi bill is modified to where students can easily lose it. This will mean many vets taking out student loans while going to school and the loans can't be dropped even through bankruptcy. I'm beginning to think the people who never went to college to begin with are better off than those of us who took the chance.
At the point we are currently at, I feel those who still have a job or unemployment income are playing a game of musical chairs hoping they won't be left without a chair the next time the music stops. Though each time the music stops there are less and less people left that are still gainfully employed, the only ones outspoken are the ones who've lost their chair and let's face it, no one cares about the homeless people. They have a stigma attached to them that they purposely put themselves in that situation.
did you learn a useful skill in the military?
1001 ways to kill someone with dental floss.
I joined way back in 1989. The National Guard then paid about 9K for GI Bill. It was used within a couple years and did not help much at all. Grants, scholarships, and lots of loans later I finally finished my degree with the help of my employer in 2005.
The money you get for joining today is not worth it in my opinion however. When joining as an Enlisted gets you paid enough to not be on welfare, then we can talk. Until then it is a complete insult. How much does an E-1 make take home a month now? When I was in Basic Training, it was about $640 a month. Woo hoo!
Hey, $9k was a whole lot more than the $5.4k had you joined back in '84. Also, you had to contribute $2.7k just to get it.
At least they let you have your money back, so I liquidated mine for truck down payment (back in the crazy days when they still had down payments).
In this area we have large numbers of Navy and ex-Navy. My observation is that useless, idiot kids who have spent 14 years in public education learning nothing become excellent workers after just two to four years in the Navy. CPOs are extremely prized and we have hired many as technicians because of their acquired skills and perserverence in a task. Our observation is that college grads have attitudes and no work ethic and ex-military have no attitude and a strong work ethic (and more colorful expletives).
FuckinA
Yes, thanks for your service. Hope you enjoyed the free agent orange, depleted U and experimental drugs/vaccinations. If you get sick, they'll deny treatment for 25 years until it's too late for most.
I hope you guys/gals turn on your leaders and free this country from the REAL terrorists and traitors. The rest of us will cheer you on.
==> social security should be pushed back to age 65 for eligibility
Whatchu talkin' 'bout Willis?
It's already 65 for current retirees (unless you take the "early option" for a significantly reduced benefit).
My age cohort is 67.5 for eligibility.
Reminds me of the recent book/article by Harry Frankfurt On Bullshit. What a great read, all Americans should keep it in their glove compartments at all times. You know... just in case.
Happy ZH anniversary to me!
Thanks for the sanity Bitchez.
Thanks for the site TD(s)!
..and here's to many more!
You're Welcome! Now please, work the shaft a little.
funny but predictable that tptb use gasoline sales (in the sales data) as indicative of a booming economy, but then change the cpi for gasoline hedonics to show less inflation.
sounds like they are gearing up for QE3....$6 gas and $5 bread.
"see, since gas is $6, you are driving less (since you no longer have a job), which means there is no inflation. and since you sold 1 of your kids, your food bills are flat even with $5 bread and $7 milk."
and lots of government cheese.
go long on comfy walking shoes... you'll need them while standing in soup lines.
Damn, I should start buying stools and cushions, and when the soup lines get nice and long, sell them to the masses.
Wait, that won't work cause if you're in a soup line, you are flat broke and so is everyone else.
Lies, damn lies and statistics.
Moving the goalposts again... These "economists" are absolutely insane.
The thing is they are no insane.
They are perfectly rational. They are goal seeking. They have to achieve x reductions to achieve y number. They have come up with a way to achieve that number.
The paradigm is insane. That is what needs to be changed. The people working within that paradigm are acting rationally.
+ 1 pi cycle
No they are not rational. How can it be rational to destroy a generation? How can it be rational to destroy a Country? How can it be rational that looters control your means of existance?
If this is the definition of rational, I'll have none of it.
Call me insane!
It's a combination of both. The economists are rational. The behavior they are trying to predict and incentivize is not rational.
Those that are part of the cartel are just evil cocksuckers, no ordinary human traits need be considered.
Yea, just change the rules around, WTF why not who cares.
The people who do care and try to enlighten others around them with this information are generally scorned. I guess I get pissed off when someone wakes me from my sleep too. "I just wanted a fucking nap!"
^^True
Reminds me of the old Henny Youngman punchline, "if you can't afford the operation; for $500, I can change the X-ray."
These people don't really understand economics. If in fact I have to change my spending habits because of inflation......I'm losing utility and therefore purchasing power and that in fact is what inflation really is. I guess they can try this game until we are all eating dirt because we have no spending power left due to corrupt government.
Oh, they understand. They don't care about their marks.
They know there are not enough to stop them anyway. The tangled web is....well, entangling.
Yeah, but it'll be hedonically adjusted dirt that's twice as nutritious as the rocks you used to eat, thereby contributing to keeping the inflation numbers low.
PMs spiking a bit...
Looks like "Risk On" is back.
Resource stocks are rocketing up.
My "Formula" still working good: Dow 15,000 = Gold $1,650
formula: riiiiight. just more hijinks from the contract 1099 processor with the corner office, secretarial help and a 4 monitor, state of the art work station as he would have us believe, although there are no small few in the zh community who continue to be fooled by this poseur of a poster.
btw: how's that short with both fists working? not that i believe for one minute that you pulled the trigger in any significant way.
He's got both fists working alright . . .
good one. you got a much needed laugh and smile from me.
Momo, you are the perfect fade.
Wow, why did gold just crash???
RobotTrader - Mon, Jun 20, 2011 - 10:35 AM
WTF???
too funny. the fool day before yesterday was giddy at the prosepects for bears. now he's giddy about the longs. and for all his mocking jim sinclair he still owns silver and pm stocks.
Oh my god I hope you're "fully invested" long as you stated yesterday Fader.
What a fucking moron, "going long" as the majors are bouncing UP into their 50DMA. You trade for a living?? Seriously???
Robot don't tell these guys that Dow will hit 15k They all praying to be the only one, who escape the "collapse", others should lose everything.. Yes, bobos, if you inspecting Inflation to rise, then welcome to reality, - Stock market will reflect that, by
going higher.
OH the DOW might hit 15K, also gas will be $7, food will be 25% higher than it is now, and not 1 more job will have been created in BK USA.
BTW hows that 'long Euro 1.46' trade workin out fer ya smartass?
The Dow could hit 25k but what does that mean when the dollar is worth a penny?
Your formula failed two fridays ago. In the business I am in, thats called broken...
RoButt, you are so good at predicting what went up yesterday.
Oh, I get it. Like for example, people can't afford to buy steak so the contribution of steak in the index is reduced, and is substituted with hamburger... er, no, hamburgers are rising too, OK let's substitute with bread.... er no, that won't work.... I know: let's substitute everything in the index with iPads!! A CPI made up entirely of iPads, hedonically adjusted.
No comment on the USPS going to stop paying their superannuation contribution??? "Saving" 800 million...who owns the USPS again?
COLA was never the same after they took out the COCA
its still in there
It amazes me that we could ZERO just about everything and still not be able to run a budget surplus.
There is definitely no easy way out. I just wish we get this this BS over with sometime soon so that the American people will be better able to gauge out their futures.
I guess I don't have it as bad as others say in their late 40s that have already been paying into Social Security and Medicare to probably see no benefits or hyper-inflated prices (i.e. worthless benefits)
It's about time that those in their late 40s woke up to the fact that they are now only months away from not seeing any more "benefits" from what they paid in.
The sooner they stop their "hope" for a[nother] "change" at the next sham election (if indeed there is an election), the sooner they will actually start working on a viable solution -- like getting rid of the blood-sucking federal government altogether!
Yeah, that's an amount well into 6 figures I'll never see again and I'm paying both sides as I'm 'self-employed'. What a f'in joke. All I want is my check for what I paid in back and even if hyper-inflation sets in I'll be able to buy a loaf of bread and a jar of pickles...oh happy day!
they better hurry, unleaded futes want $4+ range fast. Is there a 3x unleaded gas etf ?
John Williams is having a conniption fit right about now.
I've been trying to figure out lately if the American Empire has had its Kursk moment yet, or if we're on the verge of one.
Two points: 1) I'm talking metaphorically, not militarily, and 2) if you get the reference, I love you.
Similar to Titanic, only nuclear.
Aren't we at Stalingrad? "We" don't know it's game over, and the Fuhrer and his posse are still throwing bodies on the fire.
Yep, peak debt has been hit. I love the sound of default in the morning.
Kursk meaning underwater and full of exploding fish?
We need a quality of life index. A basket that represents something people buy, is weighted accordingly and see how that changes over time. It is quality of life that we really care about, and whether these adjustments meet an academic definition of inflation is silly, we need to know how much our cost is going up or down to enjoy the same quality of life.
This is the equivalent of FAT people throwing out their scales and continuing to wear clothes that are too small for them
+1 Double Quarter Pounder with cheese (740 Calories), large fries (500 Calories), and a large Coke (310 Calories).*
To burn off these 1,550 Calories, I would have to run approximately 10 miles at 10 min/mile pace, which is more than an hour and a half.
As a nation we lack discipline, both fiscal and personal. I look at group photos of my grandparents' generation and there are no fat people.
*http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/nutritionexchange/nutritionfacts.pdfUnfortunately, as a nation, the majority tends to believe whatever they are told.
AKA "I'm lovin' it".
The reality is that via Medicare, others will be financially responsible for the health care outcomes of our diet and lifestyle.
AKA, "Have a seat on the couch and pass the pork rinds... my Uncle Sam is a doctor."
I suppose, else where would big Pharma be without that there diabeties epedemic?
...and don't forget all those hip and knee implants on Medicare's dime. 250+ pounds does tend to wear out the cartilage.
Funny story regarding lap bands:
The Romano family of Dallas that started Macaroni Grill has now diversified into surgical weight loss centers.
Genius!!!
Haha, unreal.
Any mention anywhere about gold at $1,554 right now? Huh, guess its no big deal.
I've been going back and forth over whether it is a good idea to buy now or sit on the sidelines for a while longer. I'd love opinions. I have a decent amount of psilver, but only a little pgold.
The 1550 mark was indeed pretty heavily defended. The upward-forming wedge seems to have its upward breakout point at around $1550, according to what Turd has shown, so this breakout is indeed pretty significant if technical analysis is relevant anymore. I would imagine silver will follow on gold's coat tail shortly?
The eternal question. Will we get one more giant push down?
Why not buy a little at a time?
Well if you cant buy or sell any gold or silver after July 15 what will u do with it? I'm sure shortly after you won't be able to leave the country with it in your possession either.
Rectal smuggling will not work either. The TSA has anal fisting listed as its next policy update. Fisting for Freedom.
As long as people can still buy freedom fries while they wait at their gate I'm sure there won't be many complaints.
What's happening July 15?
Zh posted several articles referring to Dodd frank act that makes it supposedly illegal to trade gold or silver unless in the form of futures purchases I believe.
"makes it supposedly illegal to trade virtual gold or silver"
there, fixed it for you
Oh I guess I misread. I was under the impression it was over the counter too.
Over The Counter doesn't necessarily mean your local coin shop... it refers to off-exchange trading of securities in this case, I believe.
the question is of course whether it could at some point be "interpreted" to mean your local coin shop. we shall see...
PM purchases:
There will be no more bargains when the Fed runs out of manuevering room. Are they out of manuevering room yet? No, clearly, that time has not come. There is yet more unreality to come. When they try QE3 and fail, and there's is rioting in the streets, then you waited too long. There will be more buying opportunities in the future. There is no way in heck the banksters are going to restrain themselves when gold and silver continue to rise. There will be other shake outs like in early May. I hope I'm wrong, but I made some ill timed purchases in the past and learned my lesson.
Keep your powder dry and keep accumulating when the opportunity arrises.
I love gold and silver as much as anyone else here, but seeing both spike up BEFORE an FOMC is just plain weird.
Coupled with the weird as hell margin cut for gold.
This really doesnt smell right.
Remember for all the BS about QE3, QE2 has to end first, ie no further EXPANSION.
They can talk flow all they want but if the net size doesnt expand it has to contract because of the leverage in the system.
Feels like the fucking twilight zone.
My sentiments exactly. My level of distrust (or is that disgust) leads me to think thant the sheeple are being shepparded in this direction for some nefarious reason. The only safe bet, IMHO is to invest in yourself. Learn a new skill, learn how to survive without TPTB. Then and only then, will they not be able to harm you.
Better still, if we consider that millions of children go to bed hungry at night, food inflation will practically disappear.
This is known, in the TV industry, as "Jumping the Shark".
Jumping the shark:
Jumping the shark is an idiom, first employed to describe a moment in the evolution of a television show when it begins a decline in quality that is beyond recovery.
In its initial usage, it referred to the point in a television program's history where it has "outlived its freshness" [1] where viewers feel "the writers have run out of ideas" and that "the series has [lost] what made it attractive."[2] These changes were often the result of efforts to revive interest in a show whose audience had begun to decline.[3]
The usage of "jump the shark" has subsequently broadened beyond television, indicating the moment in its evolution when a brand, design, or creative effort moves beyond the essential qualities that initially defined its success, beyond relevance or recovery.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping_the_shark
Jesus christ you forgot the most important part of that defination:FONZI.
what if fonzi didn't jump the shark?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7wgUnbfp0s&feature=related
that's some bad hat harry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSo5fNkNKlw
When Fonzi waterski jumped over the shark, Hapy Days was over.
OH SNAP! Considering the poverty level and the fact that the SNAP program follows inflation adjustments, this will surely further destroy those who depend on these benefits. Class warfare disguised as helping the lower class. Brilliant indeed to continue to divide the population on the straw man of "helping" the poor.
When arguing with what the neo-conservative right considers a bleeding-heart liberal about government subsidies to the poor, the conversation usually moves to this "pot of money" and how we spend it. However, the conversation should be on how these programs actually "fix" the poor into a continued situation of being poor while depending on these subsidies. The government doesn't refer to fixed-income as fixing the problem of poverty, rather the programs fix these individuals into a slow decay.
Some say that it is the poor's fault for depending on these programs, but taking into consideration Social Security and Medicare programs makes one realize that all paths lead to the same dependence on these "helpful" programs. What a rouse.
Does anyone have the opt out forms?
Austerity, bitchez.
just remove food and fuel. They're irrelevant anyway
If they indexed the CPI to the price of an ounce of Marijuana we would have had positive real interests rates never below about 4%.
lulz. ISI - Indica Sativa Index. Problem is the same adjustments could be made by substituting dirt for high grade. On a long enough timeline....goose shit would have been the replacement item.
I would personally make every effort to increase the price of that CPI as often as possible.
Riddle me this.
I don't eat or go out. I don't sleep, so I don't pay rent. I don't walk so I don't buy shoes or clothes.
Who am I?
Jesus
Dick Van Patten?
Dead?
American Consumer?
A dodecahedron?
A cash is trash? I don't know who are you.
I am a heap of dollars used to fuel the furnace to boil a pot of water. The American people will use my flammable characteristics to heat up their last pair of hush puppies and serve up some shoelace spaghetti.
Why don't we just switch to No Doc loans.
<inhales> Aaah. I love the smell of napalmed government in the morning.
if you don't like the measurements, change the ruler
Bullish for the U.S. Metric Association.
Anthony Weiner?
Think McCain wouldn't have done the same thing? Think there's a top-down solution at this point? <uproarious laughter ensues!>
Smoke the rulers..
"To improve accuracy in assessing inflation, we've decided not to count anything that's gotten more expensive."
Re-arranging the deck chairs, bitchez.
Long life boats.
For all those hoping for massive demonstrations, here's your chance. All you have to do is tell everyone you know who's on the dole about this. They may not understand economics, but they are all aware they've had no increases now for a few years because of the CPI.
Once you tell them they are changing the formula in order to deny them a raise yet again, I think you'll find them ready to hit the streets.
TRUE Hedonism = school of thought which argues that pleasure is the only intrinsic good
FALSE CPI hedonics = method of newsstatistics that says people don´t enjoy the "pleasure" of driving to work because of high gasoline prices
Or
FALSE CPI hedonics = A school of thought according to which the happiness of the average person only matters if it makes politicians look good.
hehe good one!
The more prices increase, the less inflation we have. I think that is quite reasonable. Boy we are lucky we have Joe Biden in the saddle.
Does this mean the solution to all my speeding tickets I receive on a regular basis is to have my speedometer adjusted to always show 20mph less than the actual speed?
Try telling the judge when fighting your next speeding ticket!
It only works the other way around.
Let's see:
1. No CPI increases indicates that seniors will suffer and die off sooner.
2 The unreported Fukushima radiation fallout, which could last for years, indicates that many millions in the Northern Hemisphere will get some form of cancer and not make it to retirement age.
3. The new EPA regulations on coal and water will quadruple ultility costs over the next decade, crippling new business formations and the ability of those with declining real incomes to survive.
Future entitlement problems solved.