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China Lowers Weighting Of Surging Food Prices In CPI

Tyler Durden's picture




As we speculated earlier, China has just lowered the weighting of food in its CPI. The reason: the nearly 5% surge in food prices in the past 10 days. Turns out the US can still learn a thing or two about data manipulation from the Chinese...

From Dow Jones:

China has adjusted the weighting of the components making the consumer price index and lowered the weighting of food at the start of the year, the state-run China Securities Journal reported Tuesday, citing an unnamed official at the National Bureau of Statistics.

But the report quoted Xian Zude, chief statistician of the bureau, as saying that the new CPI statistical model will reflect changes in consumption and price levels more accurately, and won't result in a lower index reading.

The report came ahead of the release of January CPI data Tuesday morning. On Monday, state-run Xinhua News Agency quoted government economist Ba Shusong as saying that China's CPI for January may be lower than market expectations, without elaborating.

The median forecast in a Dow Jones Newswires survey of 12 economists was for January's CPI to have risen by 5.4% on year, up from December's 4.6% rise and November's 5.1% increase.

As a result of this pre-emptive manipulative action, expect to see a CPI lower than the 5.4% consensus when the number prints later tonight.

h/t LDT




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Mon, 02/14/2011 - 20:21 | Link to Comment FOC 1183
FOC 1183's picture

Who knew (ZH readers notwithstanding)

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 20:37 | Link to Comment Thomas
Thomas's picture

They've now caught the US.

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 21:08 | Link to Comment MarketTruth
MarketTruth's picture

"In honor of this massive overfulfillment of the ninth three-year plan... it's been announced that chocolate ration is to be increased to 20 grams per week!" -- 1984 Movie 

(Hint for those who never saw the movie: It was 30 grams a week before the announcement.)

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 22:31 | Link to Comment Dr. Sandi
Dr. Sandi's picture

I'm waiting for the book to come out.

Tue, 02/15/2011 - 10:14 | Link to Comment Duck
Duck's picture

U.S. Food and beverage weighting is 14.8% NOT the 7.8% claimed in ZH post the other day.  7.8% is for food consumed at home; Americans like to eat out.  ZH should expose manipulative data claims in any direction, not just ones that support the local narrative.  Credibility.

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 20:23 | Link to Comment mynhair
mynhair's picture

That bad, huh?

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 20:28 | Link to Comment Racer
Racer's picture

Crowds and Power by Elias Canetti (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/ecanetti.htm)

 

and it is old news

THE CROWD

A STUDY OF THE POPULAR MIND

 

http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=BonCrow.sgm&images=image...

 

 

 

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 20:31 | Link to Comment alien-IQ
alien-IQ's picture

and the ponzi goes full retard.

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 20:33 | Link to Comment Weimar Ben Bernanke
Weimar Ben Bernanke's picture

MMMM plastic rice is the shit.

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 20:40 | Link to Comment mynhair
mynhair's picture

but rubber pancakes are the cat's meow!

Crap, rubber is way up, too.

Crap, free State rubbers are gonna cost more.

Crap, my taxes are still going up.

Crap, they still make Lexan.

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 20:35 | Link to Comment jtmo3
jtmo3's picture

Score another one for the turd in the Treasury. He's shown the Chinese the way. Give them our country and then our ethics. And I thought the Chinese were smarter than that.

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 20:38 | Link to Comment mynhair
mynhair's picture

Oooh, a slight misuse of 'Turd'.  Ferg is in the Treas scoping out gold holdings.

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 20:39 | Link to Comment Bob
Bob's picture

Holy Shit, good call!  Inside info????

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 20:41 | Link to Comment mynhair
mynhair's picture

Just another ZH miracle.  Haven't seen a miss in 18 months.

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 21:10 | Link to Comment Bob
Bob's picture

Yeah, but that was, what, a 24 hour turnaround?  That's eerie.

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 20:40 | Link to Comment b_thunder
b_thunder's picture

Nothing new here.  For decades the Chinese have been copying western "inventions."

So now they've simply copied the US Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS)  way of  "fixing" the CPI:  Weighting. 

On deck:  hedonics and substitution.

 

 

 

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 20:45 | Link to Comment Fred Hayek
Fred Hayek's picture

Hedonics.

Because a suit bought in 2011 has 20% more features and value than a suit bought in 2010 and so its higher price should be knocked down to reflect that.

 

 

 

 

 

 (and to hide inflation)

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 20:53 | Link to Comment Dapper Dan
Dapper Dan's picture

Fred, Crash Course by Chris Martenson?  If not see link for more eye opening info.

http://www.chrismartenson.com/

 

 

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 20:42 | Link to Comment cougar_w
cougar_w's picture

And ... PROBLEM SOLVED!

What was I worried about? Damn they really are the smartests guys in the room. Massive bonuses and Bang Dae-Ho all around.

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 20:44 | Link to Comment Fred Hayek
Fred Hayek's picture

Only a corrupt totalitarian country would intentionally understate the pricing of such a basic item as food in its official statis-

What?

Oh.

Never mind.

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 21:03 | Link to Comment mynhair
mynhair's picture

O/T, but I am all in favor of taxing your offspring, and theirs, for my benefit now.

If you were stupid enough to have kids, that is.

Never voted a Dim in my life.  Name one that was worth a crap.

There actually is one, but you numbnuts will never get it.  And I never voted for him.

Really need a Fight Club thread daily.

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 22:47 | Link to Comment perchprism
perchprism's picture

 

That's easy---Zell Miller.

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 23:33 | Link to Comment UncleFester
UncleFester's picture

Bring back the duel!  Buy, buy, buy TFD...no wait, Zell, Zell, Zell!

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 20:45 | Link to Comment dark pools of soros
dark pools of soros's picture

but if everyone lies.. isn't that the new truth??

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 20:50 | Link to Comment mynhair
mynhair's picture

Works for CNBS, I guess.  They are still on cable.

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 23:33 | Link to Comment UncleFester
UncleFester's picture

I think you are ready for a Ministry of Truth promotion.

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 20:52 | Link to Comment jmc8888
jmc8888's picture

I wonder how many 'news' outlets will not notice the change in methodology and just report whatever number appears. 

Those that do, will of course downplay it and compare it to our fucked up underweighting and probably call it, modernizing. 

Yes because their's is different and less rigged against reporting inflation than ours, it is not accurate.  Because they are aligning more along the lines of the world standard, this is good for the markets. 

Expect this sort of bullshit to be spouted by the talking heads, again if they don't completetly miss the boat about the methodology change.

Thanks ZH for once again setting the standard that the others, even with added time, will still fail to approach.

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 21:04 | Link to Comment mynhair
mynhair's picture

'news outlet'

There goes the keyboard again, if a '1' is missing later, no worries.

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 20:54 | Link to Comment steve from virginia
steve from virginia's picture

The Chinese have been cooking their books since they invented books.

What's with the GDP numbers?

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 20:57 | Link to Comment Misean
Misean's picture

When food costs more people eat less. As they eat less they loose weight and even lesser. So, it makes sense that food is weighted less as it goes up in price. And the food packages weigh less too. Man, this ebbublegnomics stuff is easy.

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 21:01 | Link to Comment cougar_w
cougar_w's picture

When food costs more people eat each other. It's a self-limiting problem, not worthy of serious discussion by people with more important things to ponder like derivative pricing and forex crosses.

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 21:05 | Link to Comment mynhair
mynhair's picture

but we are felines, and hence allowed to eat humans.  You are federally protected!

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 21:06 | Link to Comment Misean
Misean's picture

Fewer people chasing an increasing number of corpses is deflationary!

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 21:07 | Link to Comment mynhair
mynhair's picture

Soylent Green has an input loss amount, don't ferget.

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 21:40 | Link to Comment papaswamp
papaswamp's picture

Zombies?!

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 21:47 | Link to Comment Misean
Misean's picture

No, that's an increasing number of corpses chasing a number of screaming humans, which is inflationary. But zombies are brain dead, so they believe the BlS numbers.

Tue, 02/15/2011 - 08:02 | Link to Comment whatz that smell
whatz that smell's picture

headonics, bitchez!

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 21:02 | Link to Comment London Banker
London Banker's picture

Excellent Michael Pettis piece up that suggests that depressed consumption as a share of the Chinese economy, along with decades of bank excess and malinvestment, could mean a long Japanese-style correction as the Chinese economy rebalances.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/08/19/china_s_japanese_future...

Especially given what's happened in Egypt, the Chinese elites are going to be hard squeezed to maintain their subsidies at the cost of wage growth.

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 21:11 | Link to Comment BlackSea
BlackSea's picture

A communist economy never rebalances orderly - it implodes and is triggers major revolts.

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 21:15 | Link to Comment hardcleareye
hardcleareye's picture

Thanks for the link I enjoy reading Pettis' work.

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 21:02 | Link to Comment NOTW777
NOTW777's picture

battle of manipulators

who s the biggest liar

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 21:06 | Link to Comment 55mph
55mph's picture

I love this story.  Do you think US news correspondents will draw any paralells?   

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 21:07 | Link to Comment mynhair
mynhair's picture

No.  And you and I are cut off.

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 21:10 | Link to Comment mynhair
mynhair's picture

Why don't you people rate the articles?  3 votes.

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 21:25 | Link to Comment farragut
farragut's picture

For what it's worth, this move was mentioned in an Aussie journal in April 2010 (1st link) and mentioned in the WSJ in Sept 2010 (2nd link):

http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/China-to-raise-reside...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870394650457546909237962528...

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 21:43 | Link to Comment Alienated Serf
Alienated Serf's picture

thanks for the links

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 21:31 | Link to Comment vas deferens
vas deferens's picture

Fried pussy cat with egg roll, rice and a salty tea bag up 7% this year.  

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 21:32 | Link to Comment Hephasteus
Hephasteus's picture

Data massage with an unhappy ending?

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 21:35 | Link to Comment Lapri
Lapri's picture

And big, 20lb bags of rice disappeared from Safeway....

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 21:41 | Link to Comment NOPOMO
NOPOMO's picture

Ben better get his finger off the print button before someone puts their finger on the nuke button.

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 21:57 | Link to Comment tellsometruth
tellsometruth's picture

neato...what an amazing trick... it would be more effective though if they just stopped  releasing it because it is too difficult to compile data like M3 in US

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 22:01 | Link to Comment LostWages
LostWages's picture

They just got confused with the price of Rapes going up.  Counted the wrong ones.

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 22:10 | Link to Comment mee-mee-mee
mee-mee-mee's picture

thanks for that link. good one.

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 22:11 | Link to Comment SDRII
SDRII's picture

cant wait to read the andy xie analysis

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 22:16 | Link to Comment PulauHantu29
PulauHantu29's picture

"If it Doth offend Thee, cut it out."

Mon, 02/14/2011 - 22:22 | Link to Comment PeterSchump
PeterSchump's picture

I would think that the Chinese were advanced enough at this point that they would not need to copy the U.S. anymore.  I guess the U.S. is still the leader in finacial innovation.

Tue, 02/15/2011 - 00:15 | Link to Comment Trifecta Man
Trifecta Man's picture

I guess I should keep my Chinese food stocks.

Tue, 02/15/2011 - 02:48 | Link to Comment ebworthen
ebworthen's picture

 

The really are learning new tricks.

What's next, establishment of left and right political parties and "elections"?

They will need a core of University media types railing against the right and a cadre of mad men type capitalist banksta's railing against the left to keep their sheeple busy for 50 years or so; inversely proportional to literacy and # of tweets and facebuk pages of course...

 

Tue, 02/15/2011 - 05:40 | Link to Comment Sudden Debt
Sudden Debt's picture

INFLATION PROBLEM SOLVED!!!!

 

Tue, 02/15/2011 - 07:45 | Link to Comment wazoo
wazoo's picture

To see the impact of the reweighting CPI numbers have to be quoted to two decimal places. So, with the old weights CPI would have been up 4.94%.

Wow some significant data manipulation there chaps.....

Tue, 02/15/2011 - 08:14 | Link to Comment whatz that smell
whatz that smell's picture

Man ties machine on day 1 of "Jeopardy!" showdown

......the machine drew snickers from the audience when it answered "hu is bullshit?" to the clue: "china's cpi beats expectations again"

Tue, 02/15/2011 - 11:03 | Link to Comment Stuck on Zero
Stuck on Zero's picture

China now officially weights food at 350 calories a day per person for their CPI.

Tue, 02/15/2011 - 20:56 | Link to Comment co2010
co2010's picture

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