4 ms·

Read: Journalists and pundits need FUD to survive so let’s question longstanding economic measurements because it suits us

by jjcon 6y ago

hanniabu 6y ago
If they really want something to question it should be how inflation is calculated. Almost everything is going up in price and it doesn't seem to reflect in the inflation. How it's calculated really needs to be revisited and modernized.
- Red_Leaves_Flyy 6y ago
  That's a cost of living index. Switching from COGI to COLI would be fraught with political nooses for a politician to hang themself with. If the switch were to happen poor people might take more notice of how badly they're being taken advantage of by the Company Store known as the stock market when they can point to the cost of living index and ask why the COLI went up 30% and they got a 0.5% raise.
  - engineer_22 6y ago
    What is COGI?
    - hanniabu 6y ago
      Cost of goods index
- gruez 6y ago
  >If they really want something to question it should be how inflation is calculated. Almost everything is going up in price and it doesn't seem to reflect in the inflation. Or maybe there's section bias going on? ie. everything you're worried about is going up in price.
  - idiotsecant 6y ago
    There is unquestionably a huge amount of inflation in the things the upper classes spent money on - real estate, investments, etc. This seems to me to be indicative of a lot of upper class people benefitting from the upward redistribution of wealth that has been ongoing for the last 25 years.
- LorenPechtel 6y ago
  The impression I get is that it's not things going up in price, but that sales are much less common. For the person who watches for sales this matters, but the inflation rate isn't calculated that way.
CarelessExpert 6y ago
This is, bluntly, a very low effort comment. a) It's not journalists questioning these numbers, it's politicians and economists, and b) the criticism is long-standing and entirely accurate. Folks have been criticising this statistic for many years, and COVID has only made those criticisms more salient. The top-line unemployment numbers factor out a large number of cohorts. For example, the number of people who've permanently stopped looking for work aren't counted. COVID has inflated numbers in those cohorts and the top-line figure is likely understating these effects as a consequence. Unfortunately, you've opted for a pithy dismissal based on, frankly, a cliche about mass media that offers no value or insight.
WarOnPrivacy 6y ago
Your comment doesn't reflect reality at all. For the years prior to the 2016 elections, the economic news was loaded with optimism and high-fives - while the majority of US counties were stocked with people who regularly went without food. It's not that there was zero improvement; it's that the pace of recovery in most of the US was a small fraction (often near zero) of what it was in the wealthy regions.
pii 6y ago
~Read:~ Misread:

Read: Journalists and pundits need FUD to survive so let’s question longstanding economic measurements because it suits us

by jjcon 6y ago

Read: Journalists and pundits need FUD to survive so let’s question longstanding economic measurements because it suits us

hanniabu 6y ago

If they really want something to question it should be how inflation is calculated. Almost everything is going up in price and it doesn't seem to reflect in the inflation. How it's calculated really needs to be revisited and modernized.

Red_Leaves_Flyy 6y ago
That's a cost of living index. Switching from COGI to COLI would be fraught with political nooses for a politician to hang themself with. If the switch were to happen poor people might take more notice of how badly they're being taken advantage of by the Company Store known as the stock market when they can point to the cost of living index and ask why the COLI went up 30% and they got a 0.5% raise.
- engineer_22 6y ago
  What is COGI?
  - hanniabu 6y ago
    Cost of goods index
gruez 6y ago
>If they really want something to question it should be how inflation is calculated. Almost everything is going up in price and it doesn't seem to reflect in the inflation. Or maybe there's section bias going on? ie. everything you're worried about is going up in price.
- idiotsecant 6y ago
  There is unquestionably a huge amount of inflation in the things the upper classes spent money on - real estate, investments, etc. This seems to me to be indicative of a lot of upper class people benefitting from the upward redistribution of wealth that has been ongoing for the last 25 years.
LorenPechtel 6y ago
The impression I get is that it's not things going up in price, but that sales are much less common. For the person who watches for sales this matters, but the inflation rate isn't calculated that way.

CarelessExpert 6y ago

This is, bluntly, a very low effort comment. a) It's not journalists questioning these numbers, it's politicians and economists, and b) the criticism is long-standing and entirely accurate. Folks have been criticising this statistic for many years, and COVID has only made those criticisms more salient. The top-line unemployment numbers factor out a large number of cohorts. For example, the number of people who've permanently stopped looking for work aren't counted. COVID has inflated numbers in those cohorts and the top-line figure is likely understating these effects as a consequence. Unfortunately, you've opted for a pithy dismissal based on, frankly, a cliche about mass media that offers no value or insight.

WarOnPrivacy 6y ago

Your comment doesn't reflect reality at all. For the years prior to the 2016 elections, the economic news was loaded with optimism and high-fives - while the majority of US counties were stocked with people who regularly went without food. It's not that there was zero improvement; it's that the pace of recovery in most of the US was a small fraction (often near zero) of what it was in the wealthy regions.

pii 6y ago

~Read:~ Misread: