The Portal Wiki

Boskin Commission: Difference between revisions

Page Discussion

Boskin Commission (edit)

Revision as of 06:38, 10 February 2026

7,068 bytes added ,  10 February
ā†’ā€Ž2025
Ā 
(4 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 595: Line 595:
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=The moral of the story to me is this:
|content=The [[Morals|moral]] of the story to me is this:


We canā€™t have outside folks calculating and theorizing while the inside economists are fudging and cooking the books.
We canā€™t have outside folks calculating and theorizing while the inside economists are fudging and cooking the books.
Line 607: Line 607:
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=One of the things my trolls like to point to is outrageous claims.
|content=One of the things my trolls like to point to is outrageous [[Claims|claims]].


One of my most *outrageous* is that my joint work on a 2nd Marginal Revolution for economics was scuttled by the Harvard Department of Economics '''Boskin Commissioners'''.
One of my most *outrageous* is that my joint work on a 2nd Marginal Revolution for economics was scuttled by the Harvard Department of Economics [[Boskin Commission|Boskin Commissioners]].


Yet itā€™s admitted:
Yet itā€™s admitted:
Line 632: Line 632:
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=In any event, I stand by my claim. The '''Boskin Commission''' was organized by Moynihan and Packwood to deliberately break the [[CPI]] in a precise amount to avoid the US paying 1 trillion dollars over 10 years.
|content=In any event, I stand by my [[Claims|claim]]. The [[Boskin Commission]] was organized by Moynihan and Packwood to deliberately break the [[CPI]] in a precise amount to avoid the US paying 1 trillion dollars over 10 years.


And I promise you no leading economist will call bullshit to debate this.
And I promise you no leading economist will call bullshit to debate this.
Line 887: Line 887:
{{Tweet
{{Tweet
|image=Eric profile picture.jpg
|image=Eric profile picture.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/1456428604246560776
|nameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/1456733111954272257
|name=Eric Weinstein
|name=Eric Weinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=<nowiki>*</nowiki>leads not leases in the above.
|content=I would take a look at [https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2018/06/samuelson-lecture.pdf '''Paul Samuelson'''ā€™s Nobel lecture]. He goes into depth on [[Revealed Preference|revealed preference]] and preference field non-integrability. I think we have lost track of the fact that integrability of tastes was never actually settled except by fiat. Will talk on this.
|thread=
|thread=
{{Tweet
{{Tweet
Line 961: Line 961:
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=As an example. The '''Boskin commission''' gave a single illustrative example in their report using two goods, chicken and beef. They gave prices but not ordinal utility. Here is the COL answer assuming Cobb-Douglas and Linear interpolation of all quantities. They could not compute it.
|content=As an example. The [[Boskin Commission|Boskin commission]] gave a single illustrative example in their report using two goods, chicken and beef. They gave prices but not ordinal utility. Here is the COL answer assuming Cobb-Douglas and Linear interpolation of all quantities. They could not compute it.
|timestamp=1:07 AM Ā· Nov 5, 2021
|timestamp=1:07 AM Ā· Nov 5, 2021
|media1=ERW-X-post-1456427997813116928-FDZFiwNUYAUWtIs.jpg
|media1=ERW-X-post-1456427997813116928-FDZFiwNUYAUWtIs.jpg
Line 976: Line 976:
|timestamp=1:09 AM Ā· Nov 5, 2021
|timestamp=1:09 AM Ā· Nov 5, 2021
}}
}}
{{Tweet
|image=Eric profile picture.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/1456428604246560776
|name=Eric Weinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=<nowiki>*</nowiki>leads not leases in the above.
|timestamp=1:10 AM Ā· Nov 5, 2021
|timestamp=1:10 AM Ā· Nov 5, 2021
}}
{{Tweet
|image=PeterRyan-profile-MGctNrxp.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/_PeterRyan/status/1456431438975275013
|name=Peter Ryan
|usernameurl=https://x.com/_PeterRyan
|username=_PeterRyan
|content=Yea I understand that and find your points interesting. So I would like to understand how we would go about invalidating the traditional theories by collecting and analyzing the correct data. I don't think those tweets answer that. I get your hypothesis.
|timestamp=1:21 AM Ā· Nov 5, 2021
}}
{{Tweet
|image=Eric profile picture.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/1456432882994405384
|name=Eric Weinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=Well I think the BLS should begin by questioning their own premises. They say they work in a COL framework. They do not. They do not share how they construct the representative consumer. How they estimate substitution if they donā€™t have preference data. Itā€™s fake and a mess.
|timestamp=1:27 AM Ā· Nov 5, 2021
}}
{{Tweet
|image=Eric profile picture.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/1456433552677998594
|name=Eric Weinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=If they are going to do COLas they should estimate preferences. If they arenā€™t they should do mechanical index theory.
But I would use a bunch of that money to develop a research program on preference collection/imputation for substitution bias if I was running a COL shop.
|timestamp=1:29 AM Ā· Nov 5, 2021
}}
{{Tweet
|image=PeterRyan-profile-MGctNrxp.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/_PeterRyan/status/1456434501312073735
|name=Peter Ryan
|usernameurl=https://x.com/_PeterRyan
|username=_PeterRyan
|content=Ok how many researchers would you need? Is the average salary $300k? What are the non-labour costs needed? Could this be done in 1 year?
Could we get this done with let's say $10m? Is $609m necessary for a MVP?
|timestamp=1:33 AM Ā· Nov 5, 2021
}}
{{Tweet
|image=Eric profile picture.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/1456440941221335042
|name=Eric Weinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=I am not sure. But the first question I have is do we believe ordinal preference maps are constructable from [[Revealed Preference|revealed preference]].
|timestamp=1:59 AM Ā· Nov 5, 2021
}}
{{Tweet
|image=PeterRyan-profile-MGctNrxp.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/_PeterRyan/status/1456441698276417540
|name=Peter Ryan
|usernameurl=https://x.com/_PeterRyan
|username=_PeterRyan
|content=Well if we were to get you started with all the resources necessary, wouldnā€™t the assumption be yes to apply your theory?
|timestamp=2:02 AM Ā· Nov 5, 2021
}}
|timestamp=9:20 PM Ā· Nov 5, 2021
}}
}}


Line 1,714: Line 1,781:
}}
}}
|timestamp=6:06 PM Ā· Jul 27, 2025
|timestamp=6:06 PM Ā· Jul 27, 2025
}}
{{Tweet
|image=Eric profile picture.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/1990534949397803328
|name=Eric Weinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=So to sum it up: he is not wrong.
I think what I said to him is that after the 1950s, [[Inflation|inflation]] became a modern tool/weapon rather than a measurement starting with the [[Price Statistics Review Committee (Stigler Commission)|Stigler Commisson]]. I explained my view that the @BLS_gov is a quiet version of the @federalreserve. An insanely powerful ā€œStatisticsā€ organization where economists actually implement policy by simply chosing how to compute economic numbers.
Numbers that just so happen to automatically transfer trillions and touch every aspect of our lives.
He already knew a lot of the [[Boskin Commission|Boskin]]/[[Gauge Theory|GaugeTheory]] story from Harvard. Less about [[George Stigler|Stigler]] if I remember correctly.
Iā€™d love to ask Larry about all this now.
|thread=
{{Tweet
|image=Eric profile picture.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/1990530011191992536
|name=Eric Weinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=I believe [[Jeffrey Epstein|Epstein]] is referring implicitly to the ā€œ[[Price Statistics Review Committee (Stigler Commission)|Stigler Commission]]ā€ of 1959-1961.
This comes from a phone conversation around 2004.
|quote=
{{Tweet
|image=nkulw-profile-gpcdbDoT.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/nkulw/status/1988837873513033941
|name=noah kulwin
|usernameurl=https://x.com/nkulw
|username=nkulw
|content=ā€œinflation is a concept from the 50sā€ what did he meanā€¦
|media1=nkulw-X-post-1988837873513033941-G5nFgW9XsAAL4lW.jpg
|timestamp=5:14 AM Ā· Nov 12, 2025
}}
|timestamp=9:18 PM Ā· Nov 17, 2025
}}
{{Tweet
|image=Eric profile picture.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/1990530014107107416
|name=Eric Weinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=In a telephone conversation around 2004, he somehow was already well aware of the [[Boskin Commission|1996 Boskin Commission]] and Harvard Economics department burying our work on [[Gauge Theory]] in economics called ā€œ[[Geometric Marginalism]]ā€. That seemed pretty weird at the time.
With the benefit of hindsight and scrutiny, I now understand that he was connected to AT LEAST two of my colleagues from my time as an Economist in the @HarvardEcon department and @nber. To say nothing of the fact that he was connected to AT LEAST two more of colleagues from my time as an math graduate student in the @HarvardMath department. He was evidently in the background of *everywhere* I was over three and a half decades from 1985-2019. Itā€™s astounding.
I believe from memory what he means is the following:
In the 1950s inflation was not yet the tool of policy that it became after the [[Price Statistics Review Committee (Stigler Commission)|ā€œPrice Statistics Review Committeeā€]] around 1960, and the indexing of Social Security to [[CPI]] in the mid 1970s. It was a simple gauge.
After that time, it became a quiet tool. And a weapon. You could use it to transfer not billionsā€¦but trillions. Why? Because a GIANT amount of all U.S. Federal receipts are indexed.
He thought it was funny that we expected our work to be heard given that trillions were being stolen.
I hope that there is a transcript of this conversation as well as the gravity phone calls about [[Theory of Geometric Unity|GU]]. If so, it will likely point back to Litauer and Rosovsky, Jorgenson and Summers.
|timestamp=9:18 PM Ā· Nov 17, 2025
}}
|timestamp=9:38 PM Ā· Nov 17, 2025
}}
}}


Retrieved from "https://theportal.wiki/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/23870...25747"