@doh1304 thanks, that was a perfect bubbanomics moment, hahahahahaha! Aaah ... whew! At least I can still laugh.

Have a good day!

minimum wage
10.50 per hour
one bedroom apt
1200 per month
good luck

"If I only had 10% more money" then, "I'd spend 15% more and I'd finally be happy!"
There is an obvious flaw in this lack of reasoning but people refuse to see it, and never will as long as those of us who do refuse to admit that it exists and continue to talk in terms of accepting consumerism.
The CA dept of transportation once finally admitted that, "when we build 10% more highway capacity we increase traffic by 15%; we need a batter answer." Caltrans was mocked for the statement, but it was literally referring to a condo development that advertised a planned highway expansion that would increase capacity by about half as much as the development would increase the load.
We have to admit it: consumerism(capitalism) ALWAYS demands more than we can feed it - and the more we feed it the more it demands. Increasing wages will only create more poverty, more unhappiness, more inequality.

@Arrow by the government are fictitious in nature.

http://www.shadowstats.com/article/consumer_price_index

Shortly after Clinton took control of the White House, however, attitudes changed. The BLS initially did not institute a new CPI measurement using a variable-basket of goods that allowed substitution of hamburger for steak, but rather tried to approximate the effect by changing the weighting of goods in the CPI fixed basket. Over a period of several years, straight arithmetic weighting of the CPI components was shifted to a geometric weighting. The Boskin/Greenspan benefit of a geometric weighting was that it automatically gave a lower weighting to CPI components that were rising in price, and a higher weighting to those items dropping in price

We keep getting it up the arse.

EDIT: added another paragraph on HEDONICS, read and enjoy the BS
of what clinton the definition of is did to us, it ain't pretty

Hedonic Thrills of Using Federally Mandated Gasoline Additives

Aside from the changed weighting, the average person also tends to sense higher inflation than is reported by the BLS, because of hedonics, as in hedonism. Hedonics adjusts the prices of goods for the increased pleasure the consumer derives from them. That new washing machine you bought did not cost you 20% more than it would have cost you last year, because you got an offsetting 20% increase in the pleasure you derive from pushing its new electronic control buttons instead of turning that old noisy dial, according to the BLS.

Good reporting as usual.
A lot of what you write is about economics. Not to hijack the thread but...
I was reading @Umairh today. his contention is that inclusion of finance and advertising in GDP causes economics to break down. Finance and advertising are 'allocative' and not 'productive' activities (and we know that this is allocating to the 1%). Taken out of the equation, 'real GDP' has be negative since the early 80's. Just like Obama's 'fake' job growth numbers. Economics seems to fail due to a lack of 'qualitative' measure. 'Good jobs' they ain't.
Is this the way we need to start looking at things?

@Arrow

Since #occupy it's been clear to me that the "finance sector" of our economy doesn't actually do anything. I've often wondered what the GDP would look like if you took that out but I didn't know where to go hunting for that data.

Good reporting as usual.
A lot of what you write is about economics. Not to hijack the thread but...
I was reading @Umairh today. his contention is that inclusion of finance and advertising in GDP causes economics to break down. Finance and advertising are 'allocative' and not 'productive' activities (and we know that this is allocating to the 1%). Taken out of the equation, 'real GDP' has be negative since the early 80's. Just like Obama's 'fake' job growth numbers. Economics seems to fail due to a lack of 'qualitative' measure. 'Good jobs' they ain't.
Is this the way we need to start looking at things?