On 9 Dec 96 at 13:10, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Doug, your NATION article on the CPI is excellent, but where can > we find an article that is more specific, i.e., refers to > alternative calculations of the CPI (e.g., by the EPI) for > oldsters, etc. indicating that cutting the CPI-based inflation > rate for political purposes is not only politically venal but > economically fallacious? Keep your eye on our web page (EPINET.ORG) for more stuff. There's a few things there now. > BTW, Max, just because people on this list criticize neoclassical > economics doesn't mean that _all_ neoclassicals are idiots, > craven fools, or whatever. We're criticizing the dominant > ideology in economics, which often trips off the tongues of > economists, not the individuals. The U.S. BLS and the Department Most are reasonable, but some are pretty rabid. > of Labor, if I remember correctly, has always been a beach-head > for organized labor, enjoying more political pressure from labor Yes but that's to some extent separate from the neo-classical versus other schools of thought issue. > and more pro-labor personnel than other departments of the > Federal government. (The State Department is Wall Street's > beach-head, etc.) So it shouldn't surprise us that the type of State and Treasury. And Justice. > neoclassical who got appointed to head the BLS is a relatively > good economist. Anyway, the BLS calculations don't have much to > do with neoclassical economics _per se_. (There's nothing > necessarily neoclassical about index-number theory or data > collection.) Yes but there's oodles of consumer theory underlying the idea of a COL index. Cordially, MBS =================================================== Max B. Sawicky Economic Policy Institute [EMAIL PROTECTED] 1660 L Street, NW 202-775-8810 (voice) Ste. 1200 202-775-0819 (fax) Washington, DC 20036 Opinions above do not necessarily reflect the views of anyone associated with the Economic Policy Institute. ===================================================
