Editing CPI (section)

== The [[Boskin Commission]] and Allegations of CPI Manipulation ==

A central pillar of Weinstein's critique is the [[Boskin Commission]], a 1990s advisory panel appointed by the U.S. Senate to review CPI methodology. In multiple X posts, particularly from [https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/1165765220561588224 2019], [https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/1220179684547149826 2020] and [https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/1456762157949808644 2021], Weinstein accuses the commission—chaired by economist Michael Boskin and involving Harvard professors—of deliberately "hacking" the CPI to understate inflation, thereby facilitating a trillion-dollar wealth transfer over a decade. In a [https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/1220179670802395137 January 23, 2020, thread], he labels the commission's efforts as "[[Anti-Interesting|anti-interesting]]," a term he defines as topics that are fascinating but stifled by powerful institutions to protect the "[[Gated Institutional Narrative (GIN)]]".

Weinstein elaborates in an [https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/1382366169257021441 April 14, 2021, thread], citing a blog post by Barry Ritholtz and a screenshot from Harvard economist Greg Mankiw acknowledging the commission's role in reducing entitlements. He claims the commission aimed to break the CPI by a precise amount to avoid legislative changes that would cut Social Security payments and raise taxes. This manipulation, he argues, was enabled by suppressing his and Pia Malaney's joint work on gauge theory in economics, which could have provided a more robust framework for cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) accounting for changing preferences.

In a [https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/1492519523873918976 February 12, 2021], post, Weinstein connects this to broader policy deceptions, such as silencing discussions on non-existent scientist shortages to depress wages via programs like the H-1B visa. He exposes the Boskin Commission's actions as a conspiracy to alter economic gauges without public scrutiny, likening it to tampering with thermometers to deny climate change—a metaphor he repeats in a [https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/1404693220848590851 June 15, 2021, thread].