Talk:Consumer price index
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Actually, RPI and CPI are two different things.
It would seem that RPI and CPI have very different definitions depending on what part of the world you're in. this page should really be divided into geographical variations.
i have a very simple question, if i am an exporter, and i realise that the CPI is growign year over year, what does that mean..taking other vairables contant.. does this form a positive situation to penetrate the market, or it is a negative indicator??
In the UK, RPI and CPI are definitely not the same thing. The Government uses CPI for inflation targetting, and the RPI for things like setting the interest rate on student loans. Does anyone that knows the details of the two systems feel like prising the two apart again?
- - Splash 19:52, Jun 2, 2005 (UTC)
- Seconded - for example, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5074570.stm shows a figure of 2.2% for CPI and 3% for RPI, so they are evidently not the same thing here in the UK. Matthew 09:17, 13 June 2006 (UTC)
Indeed- while the CPI is now the prefered system by the UK government, RPI has not ceased to exist- so this page should be split.While both systems are created using a basket of goods, the good vary greatly - for example the CPI does not include costs such as mortgage repayments/council tax - however the RPI does. The RPI is therefore favoured by trade unions as they believe it shows the true cost of living(a higher cost), and believe a higher value ( than the government prefered CPI) will enable them to negoticate better pay terms for there members. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.232.227.88 (talk) 14:13, 3 June 2008 (UTC)
I think that this should obviously be combined with Consumer Price Index. I think that Wikipedia should not be case sensitive.
- NOTE: two contradictions to the text*
Daily Telegraph 04/12/06: Contradiction to header section: "A spokesman for the Office for National Statistics said: "The CPI and RPI are specifically not intended [NOTE] to measure what people often refer to as 'the cost of living'." Contradiction to UK section: "Although the Bank of England has frequently said that the CPI is an acceptable economic measure for the purpose of setting interest rates, it does not include many major costs for households — most notably [NOTE] council tax and mortgage payments, which were an important part of RPI." Felicitygraham 14:43, 4 December 2006 (UTC)
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[edit] External links
Please don't scramble the links again. "External" means that they're external from the calculating and publishing source. Of the five ecternal links 4 are about the hedonics and 1 about substitution of goods. Understand?--Jerryseinfeld 01:34, 5 Jan 2005 (UTC)
- I added hedonics to the "See also" and removed the link labeled hedonics by the bureau of labor statistics (clothes driers) since the same article is a reference for the "Hedonics" article. What do you think about moving other hedonics related articles there?
[edit] Ireland
Ireland, too: http://www.oasis.gov.ie/consumer_affairs/consumer_price_index.html
[edit] Ireland
Ireland, too: http://www.oasis.gov.ie/consumer_affairs/consumer_price_index.html
[edit] energy and food prices
Why do they take out energy and food prices?
"They" presumably means the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Energy and food prices are removed to calculate 'core' inflation (the BLS refers to that measure as 'all items less food and energy'). Core inflation has several meanings, but it is commonly meant to be the underlying trend in price inflation. Other calculations are possible, and Comparing Measures of Core Inflation provides an overview of several common definitions.
Does this make people stop using them?
This question is argumentative and uneducated.
What would be the real inflation rate, if you add back everything they take out?
That is called the 'headline' or 'all-items' definition. Both the headline rate and the core rate are available from the BLS website.
What is the value of the CPI when you are going broke paying for energy and food?
The headline rate is used for indexing labor contracts and social security payments and is commonly reported in the press. Like any summary statistic, it does not address the circumstances of any specific individual.
[edit] broken link?
The "U.S. Consumer Price Index webpage" link under External Links is not working. I've not tried all links, since I'm primarily interested in the CPI at the moment. 69.6.162.160 16:57, 28 March 2006 (UTC)Brian Pearson
[edit] Calculating the CPI
I've reverted "Calculating the CPI" to a version of the section from the history before it was spammed and the content removed (replaced with words "bold text"). Check through, those in the know? Thanks -- Chris Wood 20:16, 2 April 2006 (UTC)
______ I'm new to the wikipedia thing and discussion, so please if I am doing something wrong by typing this let me know. The article did not make it very clear what "chained" meant. I am not an economist. Could someone with expertise explain it?
I also don't understand the explaination of "chained." And what the heck is a "Tornqvist formula"?
[edit] Urban index
What evidence do we have that the CPI is only an urban index? My understanding is that is a wider measure than that. In Australia, rural prices and suburban prices are measured as well. Capitalistroadster 07:01, 3 June 2006 (UTC)
I would like to understand what factors and weighs make up the index. For example, transportation: cost of vehicle, cost of gas, cost of insurance, cost of maintenance--- and the extent the ratio has changed or stayed the same? most of the people I know express the view that the CPI doesn't reflect their personal experience with inflation, such as the rising cost of medical treatment and medical insurance. ----Don Becker, June 15, 2006
The request seconded: why the intro speaks only of "urban households"? Of course in a subsistence economy the distinction of rural/urban is drastic, but in modern societies that should be levelled out, in te4rms of consumer goods. `'mikka (t) 17:49, 23 August 2006 (UTC)
The intro was changed to refer to consumers instead of urban households". The article refered to urban households because the U.S. CPI only measures prices in urban areas with rural areas left out. I am not sure if other countries do this, but since this is a general article that is not speicific to the U.S., I removed it. I will try to create a U.S. specific article when I have time. ---Jhamilton2087, August 25, 2006
[edit] Horrendously POV
The CPI is revised on a continuing basis to compensate for the introduction of new products and outlets. [1] An example would be that if the price of beef rises, consumers would switch to chicken. This distorts the index because it allows for the continual degration of products that are rising in price in the index until the consumer it represents is living on millet and powdered milk.
- Nowhere is the assertion made that chicken and beef are perfect substitutes --- but they are obvious partial ones. In substitution of beef-for-chicken-for-millet, there is no "degration" (degradation?) of products: only a re-evaluation of information on scarcity and relative value and a consequent reconsideration of choices. In developed countries, more consumers are eating more chicken and beef than ever before; indeed, some of them might benefit in terms of cardiovascular health if they were to begin substituting millet (high in protein, fiber and vitamins) and low-fat powdered milk for some of the high-fat fleshmeat they consume!--Jpbrenna 21:55, 14 August 2006 (UTC)
For the American (and maybe others, I don't know) CPI the first part of the quote is correct while the second part is not. New products (goods and services, to be more correct) and outlets do get added to the index on a continual basis. When the older goods and services are no longer offered new ones are added in their place and through continual replacement of what is used in the index. A switch from beef to chicken would be reflected in the index when new goods and services are added.
The American CPI also takes into account inflation when consumers start "living on millet and powdered milk." When goods and services are replaced "quality adjustments" to the items and their prices.
[edit] Countering systemic bias
The introductory paragraphs to this article are not very friendly and are, I presume, written from an American perspective. For instance, the introduction speaks of 'the CPI' when there are slightly different measures around the world, and Core CPI, whatever that may be, reads as though it's specific to one part of the world. Hence I think this article could do with a cleanup or a
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The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page. |
tag being put on until it is cleaned. Matthew 12:56, 22 February 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Massive recent addition
I've tried to clean up the two new sections added on 'Weighting' and 'Quality adjustment'. I'm afraid the QA section was just a mess and I could not make heads or tails out of the intent nor could I verify any of the content. I've left in the weighting section since it could be made legible, but I would greatly appriciate specific references to the numerous 'conclusions' made within the text. At the moment, both sections felt more like a term paper than a encyclopedia entry. It would be great to clean them up and get the content in, but let's get it sourced specifically first. Kuru talk 02:01, 8 August 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Why does RPI redirect to the CPI article?
According to everything I have read including this article, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_Price_Index_%28United_Kingdom%29 the retail price index and the consumer price index are completley different things, so why does RPI redirect here? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Comrinec (talk • contribs) 17:50, 25 May 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Headline and core CPI
What are "healine CPI rate" and "core CPI"?. --Mac (talk) 12:47, 30 May 2008 (UTC)
