Measuring Real Consumption and CPI Bias under Lockdown Conditions / W. Erwin Diewert, Kevin J. Fox.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Diewert, W. Erwin.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Fox, Kevin J.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w27144.

NBER working paper series no. w27144

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2020.

Summary:

Millions of goods and services are now unavailable in many countries due to the current coronavirus pandemic, dramatically impacting on the construction of key economic statistics used for informing policy. This situation is unprecedented; hence methods to address it have not previously been developed. Current advice to national statistical offices from the IMF, Eurostat and the UN is shown to result in downward bias in the CPI and upward bias in real consumption. We conclude that the only way to produce a meaningful CPI within the lockdown period is through establishing a continuous consumer expenditure survey.

Notes:

Print version record

May 2020.