....the thread on the Military Forum (link is in the first post of this thread), here's a good rundown below, from there, of what a
bogus operand the CPI has become:
i.e. like all politically vulnerable devices it can be cunningly manipulated to produce any outcome you wish (which is exactly what's been done for 25 years now):
The CPI measurement is the greatest rubbery measurement stunt ever pulled on an unsuspecting population. The CPI measurement methods have been "adjusted" so much by politicians, the CPI measurement is now meaningless.
Google "CPI measure flawed" and you'll get plenty of food for thought. When the CPI measurement was introduced, a set basket of "goodies", the average purchasing requirements for a family or individual, to live satisfactorily, was the measurement standard.
Along the way, the CPI basket has been adjusted, screwed with, modified, quantified and generally made so irrelevant, to any actual living costs - by political influences - it is high time it was abandoned, and an independent, highly accurate measurement method, installed in its place.
Typical of the cunning CPI rorts, is the "discretionary" method of measurement, introduced by political forces, in years gone by (both Labor and Liberal).
The "discretionary" line says that any particular item in the basket can no longer be set as a fixed % of expenditure - but that it can be adjusted downwards, if prices rise.
The argument goes, that if fuel prices rise, you can use the car less - and therefore, fuel costs can be reduced as a % of weekly expenditure, when it comes to measuring fuel costs in the CPI figures.
The same "discretionary" line applies all across the board. They reckon that if wheat goes up, you can eat less Weeties, and eat something else that uses a cheaper grain.
This goes on, all across the board, and using this "discretionary" nonsense style of measurement means that no item can ever have a set % of expenditure attached to it.
This kind of "measurement" is the same kind of rubbery figures applied to everything that politicians ever have a hand in. No longer is your money fixed to a set value. No, it "floats", and has a different value every day. Guess who benefits out of this? Of course, not the average Joe Bloggs - but the national and global banks and finance houses! - as they trade in our currency, every minute of every hour of the day! - surprise! surprise!
A rubbery CPI gives politicians wondrous powers. They live and die by the CPI figures. A bad CPI is political death - but a good CPI makes them look like heroes! - and they get voted back in!! "Why not have a CPI we can 'adjust' at will, to suit our political ends", says the pollies?? What a wondrous idea! Fuel goes up? - they can ride bicycles! Bread goes up? - they can eat cake!! Marie Antoinette would rejoice, having access to the current CPI measurements - she could prove that the people weren't starving, and were more than comfortable, with a spreadsheet full of CPI figures to flourish as irrefutable proof....