FW: Bundesbank mocks US IT book-cooking

[Seth Ackerman]

Doug Henwood wrote:

> The BEA publishes a spreadsheet on computer spending in the NIPAs, 
> along with every GDP. The latest is at 
> <http://www.bea.doc.gov/bea/dn/comp-gdp.exe>. Between the first 
> quarter of 1990 and the second quarter of 2000, nominal private 
> investment in computers was up 195% - and 2084% in real terms.
> 
	---

	That's still a lot more than German IT investment growth, which
Grant reports as 27.5% a year since 1991 -- about 700% cumulative?

> >Also, why does Grant say these figures can't
> >be used to estimate how fast the German's measured GDP growth would be
> using
> >hedonic pricing?
> 
> You'd have to know all kinds of details about the mix of German IT 
> spending. Buba shoulda done that for us. Their August monthly report 
> isn't on their website in English yet; it's in German at 
> <http://www.bundesbank.de/de/monatsbericht/bericht08/00/inhalt.htm>.
> 
	---

	Yeah, but can't you do it the other way around? According to Grant,
the Buba report claims that US measured computer prices dropped 80% between
1991 and 1999. German measured prices dropped 20%. Can't you apply the
German prices to US GDP?

	Seth