growth: De Long view

[michael at ecst.csuchico.edu]

Didn't Boskin et al cheat by pointing to quality effects in some
directions while not counting the inconvenience of wandering around large
box stores?

Brad wrote:


> My belief is that the biggest hole in the Boskin Commission was its 
> refusal to take the idea of a "CPI for the elderly" seriously. The 
> idea that you could save money by shopping at WalMart is simply silly 
> if you do not have a car or can no longer drive. Different people 
> have different capacities to shop and shop at different places, and 
> to apply the single CPI for all urban consumers to everyone 
> (especially since the CPI is dollar-weighted rather than 
> person-weighted) seems to me to be a big mistake...
> 

-- 
Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
Chico, CA 95929

Tel. 530-898-5321
E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu