The Consumer Price Index Essay Research Paper free essay sample

The Consumer Price Index Essay, Research Paper Sept. 28, 199 Inaccuracies of the Consumer Price Index ( CPI ) The Consumer Price Index is a step of the monetary values of a fixed market basket of some 300 consumer goods and services purchased by a # 8220 ; typical # 8221 ; urban consumer. The 1982-1984 period serves as the base period so analysts can compare other twelvemonth? s alterations with this basal period. The composing of the market basket is fixed in the base period and is assumed non to alter from one period to another. The ground for the premise is because the CPI measures the dearness of a changeless criterion of life. Critics claim that the CPI is inaccurate because it overstates the additions in the cost of life. For this ground, the CPI has been said to be inaccurate. First, consumers do alter their disbursement forms. We will write a custom essay sample on The Consumer Price Index Essay Research Paper or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Even though the composing off the market basket is assumed non to alter, it does because consumers change their disbursement forms. Because consumers substitute lower priced merchandises in stead of higher priced 1s, the weight has shifted. The CPI assumes that this does non happen and therefore it overcompensates the criterion of life. Second, because the basal period was over a decennary ago, the quality of the merchandises has increased significantly, and hence the monetary values should be higher. The CPI, nevertheless, assumes that the additions in monetary values is a consequence of rising prices instead than quality betterments which is false. Here besides, the CPI overstates the rate of rising prices. Many consumers do non mind the overcompensation of the CPI because in most instances it means more money in their pockets, but there are some effects. This may do an on-going rising prices tendency. The ground why the authorities does non curtail it is because they are disquieted about acquiring re-elected. Even if the President does name for a alteration of the CPI, Congress would get the better of it to maintain their places. Another effect of the exaggerated CPI involves the accommodation of revenue enhancement brackets. Their purpose of indexing is to forestall rising prices to do people to be placed into a higher revenue enhancement bracket. For illustration, if your income additions by 10 % , that may set you in a higher degree revenue enhancement bracket, but if merchandise monetary values have besides increased by 10 % , your existent income has remained changeless. This would reassign money from taxpayers custodies to the Federal Government. However, indexing will be given to cut down the Federal Government? s portion by raising the degrees of the revenue enhancement brackets. Therefore, more money will remain in the people? s custodies due to indexing. The lone party that seems to be aching as a consequence of the overcompensation of the CPI is the Federal Government. Because consumers are the 1s that are being affected, they control the CPI as opposed to the Federal Government.