Word: indexable
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...Moynihan proposal claimed that the budget crisis was, in his words, "easily fixed." What needed fixing, he said, was the Consumer Price Index, or CPI. By simply subtracting a single percentage point from the index published monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Moynihan declared, the Treasury would save $634 billion over the next 10 years, partly in reduced cost of living adjustments to people who collect entitlement checks. Moynihan's idea, in various forms, has long been bandied about by economists. But now it has caught the attention of both Democrats and Republicans. Both sides are heading...
That's when the CPI fix could prove handy. The index is actually an imperfect measure of inflation that the Bureau of Labor Statistics calculates by keeping track of consumer prices for a so-called basket of 364 categories of goods and services; those prices are compared with what was charged for the same items in a 1982-84 base period. Just as a rising tide lifts all ships, a CPI that increases 2%, for example, automatically boosts by the same percentage such federal expenditures as Social Security payments, civil service pensions and earned-income tax credits...
These increases, amounting to billions of dollars annually, might be fair and reasonable, say critics of the CPI, if the index accurately reflected the cost of living increases. But apparently that is not the case. The index, according to Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, "overestimates the true cost of living." As a result, some experts say, over the past few decades the Federal Government has doled out $300 billion more in benefits than the true inflation rate would warrant...
Stocks were down sharply today on the first business day of the new quarter as Wall Street was shaken by news that manufacturing activity again slowed in September. The Dow Jones industrial average ended down 27.82 points at 4,761.26. The New York Stock exchange composite index was also down 1.18 to 312.08. On the Big Board, decliners led advancers 1,338 to 932 on moderate volume of 304 million shares. The Nasdaq index also fell today, losing15.97 points to end the day at 1,027.57. The Standard & Poor's 500 stocks were off 2.69 to 581.72. The American Stock...
Today's AT&T split caused the company's stock price to soar 6 1/4 to end the day at 63 7/8. After two down days, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 25.65 to close at 4,792.69. The New York Stock Exchange composite index was up 1.22 to close at 314.33. Advancers led decliners 1,213 to 1,048. The Nasdaq composite was also up today 4.38 to 1,064.70. The Standard & Poor's 500 stocks rose 2.57 to 586.77. In London, gold closed at $384.75, down...