BIG MISS: April Factory Orders Fall 0.6%, Ex-Cars Fall 1.1%

Business Insider ^ | 6/4/2012 | Joe Weisenthal

[hattend]

The DNC has to be sweating bullets.

Nah, not when millionaire lefties are out there claiming business is evil (the irony is sick!)

They ignore the economy at their own peril.

[cuban leaf]

There is a simple explanation of hedonics in the video I supplied and I offer a “readers digest version of that here:

Imagine a tv cost $300 last year, but this years model has a sharper screen. The Government says that makes it worth $100 more, even though it is still sold for $300. So the government says that the GDP went up $100 for every set sold, even though the price is the same.

So, you say, that means the CPI went up $100 too, right?

Nope. Now that you are getting a $400 set for $300, it means the price went DOWN by $100.

So, GDP is up $100 while CPI goes DOWN $100 when, in fact, no money difference occurred at all.

This means that they can show that the economy grew (good news) while the CPI was lowered. And that means Social Security, wages and other benefits which see increases triggered by CPI increases will not increase.

I have not taken the stats seriously for some time.

[BenLurkin]

"UNEXPECTED!

[khelus]

Thanks for posting. This is a great 'reader's digest' version of what has been done to stats for years!

It's sad that many do not realize it or worse deny it.

For those not familiar with shadowstats, the blue lines represent a good approximation of the CPI and GDP without 'enhancements' put in place by both R's and D's since the mid 1980's.

[dynachrome]

“that means Social Security, wages and other benefits which see increases triggered by CPI increases will not increase.”

The whole point of the exercise is to make sure CPI does not rise by much ‘officially’. Keeping interest rates at effective zero is a goal of the current regime, also.

[Crucial]

What I don’t understand is how a recession materialized so quickly at the end of Bush’s presidency and how it ever got back into positive territory under Obama.

[spokeshave]

...what car..?