http://www.metafilter.com/tags/barryritholtz/rss tag posts with barryritholtz Mon, 05 May 2008 07:55:16 -0800 Mon, 05 May 2008 07:55:16 -0800 en-us http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 60 http://www.metafilter.com/71385/Are-US-Inflation-and-Employment-Underestimated "<a href="http://www.tampabay.com/news/article473596.ece">Hard Numbers: The Economy is Worse than You Know</a>" <small>[full article <a href="http://harpers.org/archive/2008/05/0082023">for Harper's subscribers</a>, a different <a href="http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2008/Pollyanna-Creep-Economy1may08.htm">abridged version</a>]</small> discusses how the Consumer Price Index and other US economic statistics have been manipulated over time. Among other things, the article claims, these changes make Social Security checks 70% lower than they would otherwise be. According to Barry Ritholtz of the Big Picture blog, "<a href="http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2008/04/inflation-aboun.html">the longstanding official myth that [US] inflation is modest and contained is starting to be recognized for the fraud that it is</a>." He believes that these bad statistics give false answers to even bigger questions, like "<a href="http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2008/04/gdp-inflation-r.html">are we in a recession?</a>" A New York Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/05/03/business/20080403_SPENDING_GRAPHIC.html">graphic</a> shows what's in this basket of consumer prices, which prices are going up, and which are not. To learn more about what's not counted, visit <a href="http://www.shadowstats.com">Shadow Government Statistics</a>, which tracks (for subscribers) what inflation would be under earlier formulas. (<a href="http://www.metafilter.com/49863/Unpacking-those-govt-numbers">Previously</a>.) tag:metafilter.com,2008:site.71385 Mon, 05 May 2008 07:55:16 -0800 inflation cpi unemployment gdp economy recession depression statistics indicators harpers kevinphillips johnwilliams thebigpicture barryritholtz salvia