Editor's Note: The following email letter was sent to admonish an agency of the Federal Government about its sham reports regarding the real inflation existent in the US today. It is painfully obvious that the present administration has little regard for and total contempt toward the intelligence of the American citizen. It's inconceivable that Congressmen of whatever party do nothing to renounce the government's distorted announcements about the real level of inflation. If you believe as I do, you TOO will copy/paste the letter under your own name to send to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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March 15, 2000 gibson_s@bls.gov Bureau of Labor Statistics Division of Consumer Prices and Price Indexes 2 Massachusetts Ave. NE, Room 3260 Washington, DC 20212 Re: Shame on the Bureau of Labor Statistics Notwithstanding being a taxpayer, I am a citizen of the United States of America. I deplore the onslaught of lies and deception being pushed on me by my government. According to BLS reports, the CPI (inflation) rose by 2.7% from January 1999 to January 2000. I guess I need not worry about inflation. SHAME ON THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. The Average US Citizen should have been told inflation was approximately 6.11%. I include the Bureau of Labor Statistics as a prime source of lies and deception. Rather than picking through numbers and contesting their accuracy, I intend to back up my statement by way of expressing inflation from the vantage point of an Average US Citizen. The BLS maintains several "Special Indexes." I specifically request the BLS adds jet another special index named, "Average US Citizens." Here is what to include in the index. Feel free to make slight modifications as long as it represents Average US Citizens. The Average US Citizen works day in and day out to pay for many necessities. Of most importance are the day-to-day costs of living that are quickly impacted by short-term inflation. These costs do not include the actual cost of housing and automobiles because items such as these are purchased infrequently and normally at a fixed rate of interest. The cost of education is expended over a "Medium" duration of time and can be augmented by scholarships, grants, etc. Nor is apparel or recreation of particular concern to short-term inflation because people can scale the quality, frequency, etc. of these types of expenses. The Average US Citizen is concerned ABOUT the cost of food, utility bills, and the cost of getting to and from work. The expenditures I have just described are included in BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI) numbers. Food is listed under the BLS CPI Expense category: Food and beverages | Food. Of the total 100%, the BLS currently sets the relative weight to 15.32%. Utilities are listed under the BLS CPI Expense category: Housing | Fuels and utilities | Fuels. Of the total 100%, the BLS currently sets the relative weight to 3.79%. The cost of getting to work is listed under the BLS CPI Expense category: Transportation | Private transportation | Motor fuel. Of the total 100%, the BLS currently sets the relative weight to 3.16%. Normalizing the percentages, Food becomes 69%, Utilities becomes 17%, and the cost of getting to and from work becomes 14%. It is ridiculous to seasonally adjust the numbers, since the BLS CPI numbers I am about to quote are for a full year…and the USA always has a natural disaster or two during the course of a year. Category % of Total CPI Increase Component % By now, if you’re astute enough, you'll recognize that notwithstanding “Alcoholic beverages,” the numbers above are none other than the components of the MISSING CATEGORY of the CPI frequently quoted by many sources as the CPI “Excluding food and energy.” The BLS maintains special indexes called “Food,” “Energy,” and “All items less food and energy”. According to your own numbers, including alcoholic beverages would change the total (above) to 6.181%. The numbers above trace back EXACTLY to your numbers. So why even have an index that discounts what is MOST IMPORTANT TO ME AS AN AVERAGE US CITIZEN? Why not publish the numbers above as a separate index, "The Average US Citizen?" I wonder what "Public confidence polling" results would be? Put it right up front; the first item on the BLS Consumer Price Index Summary. This would be an unadulterated, non-seasonally adjusted yearly figure that real folks could understand and would be much closer to what they experience in their daily lives. It would lend much more credibility to the "Cooked up numbers" that follow. Sincerely, Don Smith An everyday Average US Citizen |
Donald A. Smith
15 March 2000
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