Editing Price Statistics Review Committee (Stigler Commission) (section)

[[File:The Price Statistics of the Federal Government.png|thumb]]

The Stigler Commission, officially known as the Price Statistics Review Committee, was a pivotal body established in 1959 by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) at the request of the U.S. Bureau of the Budget (predecessor to the Office of Management and Budget). It was chaired by economist [[George Stigler]], who later won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1982 for his work on industrial organization and regulation. The committee's primary objective was to conduct a comprehensive review of federal government price statistics, including the [[CPI|Consumer Price Index (CPI)]], Wholesale Price Index (WPI, now Producer Price Index), and other measures of inflation. This review was prompted by congressional hearings in the late 1950s, particularly those by the Joint Economic Committee, which highlighted concerns over the accuracy and conceptual foundations of these indices amid postwar economic changes, such as shifting consumer behaviors and quality improvements in goods.

The committee consisted of prominent economists and statisticians, including Stigler as chair, along with members like Zvi Griliches (who contributed a key staff paper on hedonic pricing), and others from academia and government. It produced a main report titled ''[https://www.nber.org/system/files/chapters/c6479/c6479.pdf The Price Statistics of the Federal Government]'', published in 1961, accompanied by 12 staff papers that delved into specific technical issues. The report was transmitted to Congress and influenced subsequent BLS practices, though implementation was gradual due to initial resistance from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).