You were right the first time. You've been making this mistake for years now even though you are constantly corrected. Why do you persist? Could it be intentional?
Posted on 08/21/2007 4:08:23 AM PDT by governsleastgovernsbest
Times-Globe lying-with-statistics ping to Today show list.
Note that fuel and food costs are figured in the CPI. Those are "special" numbers that are excluded because they are deemed too volatile. I think it's time to change that. Propane has gone up 120% in five years and orange juice is now $8/gal.
Are NOT figured into the CPI.
Like the saying goes: There are lies, damn lies and statistics.
The NYT and the Globe are what? Newspapers? Does anyone read them anymore? Perhaps stuff like this is the reason why most folks get their news elsewhere.
I remember starting to read that article as I thought it was an incredulous assumption. I remember reading only to the point in which the author(s) expressed increased population, which is dilution, thus their figures and went on to some other articles looking for something intelligent to cleanse my brain.
Perhaps I should have read the whole thing, but at the time it seemed I would be ruining my day.
Dog cage lines, except for those owners whose dogs have cancelled their subscriptions.
Thank goodness for the sanity of newsbusters articles, and for their intent to expose the media’s lies.
You were right the first time. You've been making this mistake for years now even though you are constantly corrected. Why do you persist? Could it be intentional?
For contrast, the Investors Business Daily has a very positive take on the current sconomic situation.
“Our economy’s core soundness was reflected in this month’s IBD/TIPP survey. In spite of the serious problems associated with subprime mortgages, the IBD/TIPP Optimism Index rose by 2.6% to 49.5, its highest since March and just below the make-or-break optimism threshold of 50. Lower gas prices, rising incomes and low unemployment kept consumers’ spirits high.
Dovetailing with our findings was a remarkable Harris Poll of about 1,000 adults polled in July published last week. It showed no less than 94% of Americans expressing satisfaction with their lives. Well over half of those polled — 56% — said they were very satisfied. Satisfaction is up from surveys in 2003 and 2005.
“More than half of the respondents — 54% — said their own situation has improved over the past five years. Three out of five — 62% — expected things to get better over the next five years.
“The long-term trust those numbers reflect are a welcome counterbalance to last week’s University of Michigan consumer sentiment preliminary index, which fell to its lowest since August 2006.”
Reasons For Cheer
By INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Monday, August 20, 2007 4:20 PM PT
http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=272501399469132
there was one article in some MSM paper that stated: “50% of american families below median income level.”
I like this one: “100% of Mainstream Media is full of shiite”.
Technically then, it was not the income that failed to increase, it was the spending power of that income when adjusted for inflation. Or they should have qualified the headline “... in constant 2000 dollars” or some other such baseline. And we have yet to feel the full inflationary impact of the minimum wage increase.
Where is “fuel” in your chart?
People expect that, by regulating the money supply, the Federal Reserve will be able to keep consumer prices stable... and also to keep the economy growing at a reasonable rate and to keep unemployment low. That's already more "goals" than "controls", which would result in some pretty schizophrenic marching orders. For example, if OPEC announces that they plan to cut oil output in order to drive prices up, should the Fed raise interest rates to fight inflation... or see the higher oil prices as a recessionary factor, and maybe even think about lowering interest rates?
To see the answer, just notice that this isn't really a monetary problem: the higher oil prices aren't the result of too much easy money. That means that restricting the money supply wouldn't be a fix, so the Fed won't raise interest rates.
This example shows why energy prices are one of the special indices that get excluded from the Core CPI numbers: energy prices are volatile enough that when they change it doesn't tell you very much about the rate of inflation overall.
| Food and beverages Housing Apparel Transportation Medical care Recreation Education and communication Other goods and services |
Total CPI |
| - Energy - Food |
Special Indexes |
| Total CPI minus Special Indexes | Core CPI |
“Average” is often a bad measure. It includes the super-wealthy and their dot-com gains dragging the 2000 numbers up.
“Median” is more like the usual American, the guy exactly in the middle.
That the NYT reported the Average not the Median probably means the Median has been rising nicely, thank you very much.
That would be included in “Housing” and “Transportation”
Why, that’s outrageous!
At least 90% of the incomes should be more than the median income!
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