I appreciate the opportunity to discuss CPI measurement issues. An accurate CPI is important. The subcommittee performs a valuable service by focussing attention on issues that are at once technically difficult even for professional economists and of vital concern for users of the index, including those in both public and private sectors. I have worked on CPI measurement issues as a researcher, and in my former capacities as Chief of the Price Index Research Division and Associate Commissioner for Research and Evaluation, both in the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and as Chief Economist in the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
January, 1998 CPI Weight Updating
In Januray, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) updated the Consumer Price Index (CPI) weights. They are now derived from consumption patterns for 1993-95. That clearly improves the CPI, because the weights are now more nearly current, compared with the pre-January index that used weights for 1982-84...