11. A timing quirk in the method for calculating the index produced a sharp drop in gasoline prices and did not include much of the increase in airline fares. 12. Ahmedabad, the smallest of the five, was unable to calculate its index immediately because of a computer fault. 13. But their apparent good fortune has less to do with their stock-picking abilities than with how the index is calculated. 14. Clinton could simply order a change in the way the index is calculated. 15. Corry defended the current practice of using the Consumer Price Index, saying that the Labor Department calculated the index impartially and without political pressures. 16. How is the index calculated? 17. One is the fact that the two indexes are calculated differently. 18. Other indexes are calculated similarly. 19. The Boskin commission had argued, in effect, that value judgments were a necessary tool in calculating the index. 20. The construction index is calculated by subtracting the percentage of respondents who are expecting a decrease in new orders, employment and prices from those who foresee an increase. |