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Inflation is theft. And the official policy of the US government is to steal from you.
It's also policy to lie to you.
We measure inflation by the effect it has on prices. The figure that the government tracks is called the Consumer Price Index, or CPI. The CPI is lies. It is designed to hide a number of ills. Labor, for example is counted twice. Once as a line item and again in the cost of everything else--cost of labor is a component of the cost of the goods and services that labor produces. Energy and food, the things that people spend the most on, are not counted. So the government low-balls CPI as a matter of policy.
We measure productivity in a figure called the Gross Domestic Product, or GDP. In 2013, the government changed the way GDP is calculated. As one egregious example, the labor of actors in producing films and television is counted toward GDP. The labor of the actors is not a product. It is a cost in producing a product. The finished movie or show is a product. But because the entertainment industry is thriving, adding in this (large) cost it hides all the ways in which the US economy is not doing as well as it was, or as it might. And it'll work. As long as your favorite actor is paid a large salary, GDP will be strong, even if the movie bombs. So the government overstates GDP as a matter of policy.
It is the official policy of the US government to lie to you.
It's also policy to lie to you.
We measure inflation by the effect it has on prices. The figure that the government tracks is called the Consumer Price Index, or CPI. The CPI is lies. It is designed to hide a number of ills. Labor, for example is counted twice. Once as a line item and again in the cost of everything else--cost of labor is a component of the cost of the goods and services that labor produces. Energy and food, the things that people spend the most on, are not counted. So the government low-balls CPI as a matter of policy.
We measure productivity in a figure called the Gross Domestic Product, or GDP. In 2013, the government changed the way GDP is calculated. As one egregious example, the labor of actors in producing films and television is counted toward GDP. The labor of the actors is not a product. It is a cost in producing a product. The finished movie or show is a product. But because the entertainment industry is thriving, adding in this (large) cost it hides all the ways in which the US economy is not doing as well as it was, or as it might. And it'll work. As long as your favorite actor is paid a large salary, GDP will be strong, even if the movie bombs. So the government overstates GDP as a matter of policy.
It is the official policy of the US government to lie to you.
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Economy
Economy
Posted 10 y ago
Responses: 2
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Lying is almost a given in how the Government calculates and reports calculations. Want to talk about the term "Budget Surplus"?
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MSG (Join to see)
I think I'm with you. You mean a "surplus" like between 1993 and 2000 that, nevertheless, resulted in a reduction of the federal debt in only one year?
These are the same people that tell us that their budgets are being cut if they don't increase as much as they wanted it to.
These are the same people that tell us that their budgets are being cut if they don't increase as much as they wanted it to.
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SGT Richard H.
Here's my synopsis of a "Budget Surplus" as defined by the government, but explained on a normal spending level. I've used this one a few times in various discussions.
-You have a job that pays $100k per year.
-This year, you budget $200k for your household spending.
-At the end of the year, you find that you've only spent $150k
YAY! You have a $50k Surplus! (and $50k in Debt!) YAY for you!!
Now.....Does that really sound like a surplus?
-You have a job that pays $100k per year.
-This year, you budget $200k for your household spending.
-At the end of the year, you find that you've only spent $150k
YAY! You have a $50k Surplus! (and $50k in Debt!) YAY for you!!
Now.....Does that really sound like a surplus?
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