RPI adjusted...

[LandingSpot]

The cost of living is to be adjusted with the RPI set to include items the are not essential to living!

Items in:
Tablet PCs
Teenage vampire fiction
Take away chicken and chips

Items out:
Camera film
Casserole dishes

Now, I realise that camera roll isn't essential to living, but is it a mark of continuing desire for stuff that people can't afford that sees the cost of living incorrectly assessed on purchases made by enough people to be considered as ubiquitous as camera film?

The next thing we know everyone, regardless of disposable income will need an ipad purely because the tv told them that they should have bought one by now!

Edited by LandingSpot on Tuesday 13th March 19:25

[PaulV]

Of course, adding items such as Tablets that naturally drop in price over time, is a great way to skew the figures.

[Ozzie Osmond]

LandingSpot said:

Items out:
Camera film

Now, I realise that camera roll isn't essential to living, but is it a mark of continuing desire for stuff that people can't afford that sees the cost of living incorrectly assessed on purchases made by enough people to be considered as ubiquitous as camera film?

Have you not noticed that Kodak, once one of the world's biggest brands and a global company, entered bankruptcy protection from its creditors in January?

As a consumer product emulsion film based photography is as dead as a dodo.

[fandango_c]

PaulV said:

Of course, adding items such as Tablets that naturally drop in price over time, is a great way to skew the figures.

If some items drop in price over time, shouldn't a measure of inflation reflect that?!?

[LandingSpot]

Ozzie Osmond said:

LandingSpot said:

Items out:
Camera film

Now, I realise that camera roll isn't essential to living, but is it a mark of continuing desire for stuff that people can't afford that sees the cost of living incorrectly assessed on purchases made by enough people to be considered as ubiquitous as camera film?

Have you not noticed that Kodak, once one of the world's biggest brands and a global company, entered bankruptcy protection from its creditors in January?

As a consumer product emulsion film based photography is as dead as a dodo.

Yes I did know that, although I'm not sure how the financial status of a company who happens to manufacture a product used in the RPI assessment should affect whether that product that is availble elsewhere is removed or not.

Can you elaborate?

[fandango_c]

LandingSpot said:

Yes I did know that, although I'm not sure how the financial status of a company who happens to manufacture a product used in the RPI assessment should affect whether that product that is availble elsewhere is removed or not.

Can you elaborate?

The financial status of Kodak may be down to the significant reduction in sales of film and film based cameras.
RPI is ment to measure the change in cost of items bought by the average family.
There's a link between the two.

[Ozzie Osmond]

LandingSpot said:

Can you elaborate?

Yes. Kodak is in bankruptcy protection because its major product - film - isn't selling. Which means people aren't buying. Which means film is no longer relevant for the index.

RPI (and its lesser sibling CPI) are intended to measure what people are actually spending their money on.

Mind you, the gov't likes to have new electronic stuff in the indexes because prices tend to FALL over time. This suppresses the real and unavoidable inflation which is rocketing ahead on food, energy, healthcare etc.

[thinfourth2]

fandango_c said:

PaulV said:

Of course, adding items such as Tablets that naturally drop in price over time, is a great way to skew the figures.

If some items drop in price over time, shouldn't a measure of inflation reflect that?!?

The thing about tablet computers

Taste like st

[LandingSpot]

Ozzie Osmond said:

LandingSpot said:

Can you elaborate?

Yes. Kodak is in bankruptcy protection because its major product - film - isn't selling. Which means people aren't buying. Which means film is no longer relevant for the index.

RPI (and its lesser sibling CPI) are intended to measure what people are actually spending their money on.

Mind you, the gov't likes to have new electronic stuff in the indexes because prices tend to FALL over time. This suppresses the real and unavoidable inflation which is rocketing ahead on food, energy, healthcare etc.

OK. So is it more an attempt at linking what people buy to the target figures for inflation rather than an accurate reflection of what it actually costs to live?

Lies, damn lies and statistics eh??

[elster]

LandingSpot said:

Ozzie Osmond said:

LandingSpot said:

Can you elaborate?

Yes. Kodak is in bankruptcy protection because its major product - film - isn't selling. Which means people aren't buying. Which means film is no longer relevant for the index.

RPI (and its lesser sibling CPI) are intended to measure what people are actually spending their money on.

Mind you, the gov't likes to have new electronic stuff in the indexes because prices tend to FALL over time. This suppresses the real and unavoidable inflation which is rocketing ahead on food, energy, healthcare etc.

OK. So is it more an attempt at linking what people buy to the target figures for inflation rather than an accurate reflection of what it actually costs to live?

Lies, damn lies and statistics eh??

The clue is in the name. Retail Price index, it is what people buy and how the prices change, not to do with the cost of living as a necessity.

[oyster]

LandingSpot said:

Ozzie Osmond said:

LandingSpot said:

Can you elaborate?

Yes. Kodak is in bankruptcy protection because its major product - film - isn't selling. Which means people aren't buying. Which means film is no longer relevant for the index.

RPI (and its lesser sibling CPI) are intended to measure what people are actually spending their money on.

Mind you, the gov't likes to have new electronic stuff in the indexes because prices tend to FALL over time. This suppresses the real and unavoidable inflation which is rocketing ahead on food, energy, healthcare etc.

OK. So is it more an attempt at linking what people buy to the target figures for inflation rather than an accurate reflection of what it actually costs to live?

Lies, damn lies and statistics eh??

The fact is people buy iPads in droves. And so therefore to exclude them from inflation figures would not give a real figure.

There seems to be this idea that only fuel, utilities and food should be in the inflation figures. But for most people (other than the very low income ones) these items account for a fairly small proportion of their spend.

[markcoznottz]

oyster said:

The fact is people buy iPads in droves. And so therefore to exclude them from inflation figures would not give a real figure.

There seems to be this idea that only fuel, utilities and food should be in the inflation figures. But for most people (other than the very low income ones) these items account for a fairly small proportion of their spend.

You sure about that?

[Ozzie Osmond]

It also notable why the government like CPI rather then RPI - namely because it gives a lower figure!

• The basket of items for RPI includes the costs of housing (mortgage interest, council tax etc) while CPI does not. After all, who needs housing?!

• CPI is calculated as a geometric mean rather than RPI's arithmetic mean. The result using a geometric mean is always below or equal to the arithmetic mean.

[ulakye]

Remember that all items are weighted by looking at how much people spend on each area. These are the old ones for 2011 but you get the idea.

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/cpi/cpi-and-rpi-inde...

[Bill Carr]

oyster said:

There seems to be this idea that only fuel, utilities and food should be in the inflation figures. But for most people these items account for a fairly small proportion of their spend.

Are you on crack mate?!

[oyster]

Bill Carr said:

oyster said:

There seems to be this idea that only fuel, utilities and food should be in the inflation figures. But for most people these items account for a fairly small proportion of their spend.

Are you on crack mate?!

Take the average household with a take-home income of about £2,500 pcm.

Food: £500
Fuel: £200
Utilities £150

Much less than half of income.

[TeamD]

oyster said:

The fact is people buy iPads in droves. And so therefore to exclude them from inflation figures would not give a real figure.

Sure, I buy at least three a week, must cut down, can't be good for me!

[Bill Carr]

oyster said:

Take the average household with a take-home income of about £2,500 pcm.

Food: £500
Fuel: £200
Utilities £150

Much less than half of income.

How is 35% of income "fairly small"?!

Ok, I realise this is quibbling over semantics, however you made it sound like a negligible amount, which I don't agree with.

[Bing o]

oyster said:

Take the average household with a take-home income of about £2,500 pcm.

Food: £500
Fuel: £200
Utilities £150

Much less than half of income.

And what is that as a proportion after mortgage/rent?

[mondeoman]

oyster said:

Take the average household with a take-home income of about £2,500 pcm.

Food: £500
Fuel: £200
Utilities £150

Much less than half of income.

ermm average salary is only £24k, which makes average income c£1500, even with other allowances, unless you assume that the average household has two adults working, both on average wage.

If you include iPads because people spend money on them, then you HAVE to include housing. Average rent say £600 pcm for a 3 bed, add food, energy, council tax, utilities and that £1500 very soon disappears, leaving iPad and other consumer electronics spend only on the never-never.