Keyword: Lie, statistics, vigilance, monetary policy
Inflation is creeping up around the globe. But in many countries, ordinary folk as well as investment analysts and economist suspect that their government are fidding the figures for political reasons, and that the true inflation rate is much higher than officially reported. As I know, Argentina's inflation rate is the most serious figure. According to the government, consumer prices rose by 10.9% in the year to December, but private-sector economist estimate the true increase to be at least twice as much. In China, too, many claim that the government's figures hugely understate increases in the cost of living. Economists disagree on the best way to measure consumer-price inflation. How often should the relative weights be changed? How should one take account of quality improvements? One reason why the Chinese may think their cost of living is rising so quickly is that consumers are moving upmarket, for example, from the local dumpling stand to a restaurant. That increases households' spending, but is not inflation. The ever adjusted theory of price indices is hard to digest. Why not rely on a simple index consisting of food, materials, wages and rent? It may offers a handy consumer-price basket, whose composition has hardly changed over time. If the index figure is high than CPI, is this evidence that the government is underreporting inflation? Nodoubt, inflation is back. We are at our highest for over a decade and there are signs of growing wage pressure. Higher wages are not, by themselves, a bad thing, especially in a country like China where pay has for years failed to keep pace with rapid productivity growth. The danger comes when loose monetary conditions and an overheating economy mean prices and wages chase each other upward. To prevent that central bank have been fighting back with higher interest rates and higher reserve requirements before it's too late. For all that, monetary conditions remain extraodinarily loose. The real rates in our economies-the official interest rate minus core CPI- are at the lowest level since 2000. Big vigilance is needed. A continuation of booming growth and cheap money will cause trouble in the end.