itfitzme
Silver Member
J. Parsons "Policy and Economy" provides some interesting perspective on the Shadow Stats inflation measure. "Policy and Economy" has had a focus on housing prices and the housing bubble long before it burst.
Thanks to Shadow Stats, we now know that there was no housing bubble. When the "real" inflation measure is used, it turns out that the inflation adjusted value of houses has continued to fall.
Policy and Economy: Shadow Stats debunked, part I
Policy and Economy: Shadow Stats debunked, part II
J. Parsons is, of course, being facetious. He presents a good look at the Shadow Stats measure that makes it perfectly clear how absurd Shadow Stats is. He points out that there are other independent measures of inflation, Google's measure of online pricing and MIT's Billion Prices Project. These track the BLS measure nicely. As J. Parsons puts it
"which is more likely?
1. Three very different institutions—the BLS, MIT, and Google—are all conspiring to mislead the public
[or]
2. One guy—John Williams—is making a living by taking advantage of suckers"
Thanks to Shadow Stats, we now know that there was no housing bubble. When the "real" inflation measure is used, it turns out that the inflation adjusted value of houses has continued to fall.
Policy and Economy: Shadow Stats debunked, part I
Policy and Economy: Shadow Stats debunked, part II
J. Parsons is, of course, being facetious. He presents a good look at the Shadow Stats measure that makes it perfectly clear how absurd Shadow Stats is. He points out that there are other independent measures of inflation, Google's measure of online pricing and MIT's Billion Prices Project. These track the BLS measure nicely. As J. Parsons puts it
"which is more likely?
1. Three very different institutions—the BLS, MIT, and Google—are all conspiring to mislead the public
[or]
2. One guy—John Williams—is making a living by taking advantage of suckers"
