4 ms·

To be fair, the government has a long history of changing how key metrics are measured to suit their needs. The CPI is pretty consistently changed to keep infla

To be fair, the government has a long history of changing how key metrics are measured to suit their needs. The CPI is pretty consistently changed to keep inflation rates roughly on target.

goodtakes 2y ago
I think that's far different that what's happening today. The other day Amazon was accused of being hostile and "political" for simply showing tariff costs in a price breakdown.
Dumblydorr 2y ago
“To be fair”, ok provide data. Do you have evidence that they consistently changed metrics to keep inflation on target? I only know of one change in the recent years and I don’t know if that even went through.
John23832 2y ago
Examples? There are definitely complaints about how CPI is calculated (particularly that it does not include housing), however it's not consistently changed.
jmull 2y ago
To actually be fair, you'd assess the level of politicization of the numbers the government produces. While it's true that both 10 != 0 and 100 != 0, you are certainly off track trying to equate 10 and 100.
- kgwxd 2y ago
  I think this might be my favorite comment of all time.
  - illiac786 2y ago
    I think it’s called “false equivalence”. I do prefer the mathematical form though.
    - kgwxd 2y ago
      It's the math version I hadn't seen before. I saw the comment shortly after I made basically the same comment with way more words. Sadly, even in it's simplest form, I'm sure the people that most need to understand it, will still refuse to accept it.
- _heimdall 2y ago
  How do you explain a large deviation in magazine prices as listed in the CPI compared to the actual prices printed on the cover? Or swapping out steak for lesser cuts or ground beef? You can claim that my assumed intent behind how the CPI is adjusted over time is a false equivalence. I'd argue with you there, but what absolutely is false equivalence is a pound of steak and a pound of ground beef.
lawn 2y ago
> To be fair No, you're not being fair. You're being disingenuous trying to equate changing the CPI with a dictator firing people for presenting numbers not consistent with his lies.
- fuzzfactor 2y ago
  Recent years don't make a "long history". The earlier you course-correct, or OTOH deviate, the more outsized the effect on your destination. Remember when GNP was fired and replaced with GDP? And how it got that way? That should be easy to pinpoint. If not, you pretty much had to be there, and it would take some math back then that wouldn't do you any good at this point now.

To be fair, the government has a long history of changing how key metrics are measured to suit their needs. The CPI is pretty consistently changed to keep inflation rates roughly on target.

goodtakes 2y ago

I think that's far different that what's happening today. The other day Amazon was accused of being hostile and "political" for simply showing tariff costs in a price breakdown.

Dumblydorr 2y ago

“To be fair”, ok provide data. Do you have evidence that they consistently changed metrics to keep inflation on target? I only know of one change in the recent years and I don’t know if that even went through.

John23832 2y ago

Examples? There are definitely complaints about how CPI is calculated (particularly that it does not include housing), however it's not consistently changed.

jmull 2y ago

To actually be fair, you'd assess the level of politicization of the numbers the government produces. While it's true that both 10 != 0 and 100 != 0, you are certainly off track trying to equate 10 and 100.

kgwxd 2y ago
I think this might be my favorite comment of all time.
- illiac786 2y ago
  I think it’s called “false equivalence”. I do prefer the mathematical form though.
  - kgwxd 2y ago
    It's the math version I hadn't seen before. I saw the comment shortly after I made basically the same comment with way more words. Sadly, even in it's simplest form, I'm sure the people that most need to understand it, will still refuse to accept it.
_heimdall 2y ago
How do you explain a large deviation in magazine prices as listed in the CPI compared to the actual prices printed on the cover? Or swapping out steak for lesser cuts or ground beef? You can claim that my assumed intent behind how the CPI is adjusted over time is a false equivalence. I'd argue with you there, but what absolutely is false equivalence is a pound of steak and a pound of ground beef.

lawn 2y ago

> To be fair No, you're not being fair. You're being disingenuous trying to equate changing the CPI with a dictator firing people for presenting numbers not consistent with his lies.

fuzzfactor 2y ago
Recent years don't make a "long history". The earlier you course-correct, or OTOH deviate, the more outsized the effect on your destination. Remember when GNP was fired and replaced with GDP? And how it got that way? That should be easy to pinpoint. If not, you pretty much had to be there, and it would take some math back then that wouldn't do you any good at this point now.