This paper assesses the performance of the core inflation measures calculated by the Brazilian Central Bank (BCB). The evidence shows that they do not meet some key statistical criteria that a good core inflation should have: unbiasedness and the ability to forecast inflation. That performance...

Given the highly kurtotic and positively skewed characteristics of cross-sectional distribution of price, asymmetric trimmed-mean is the best approach in extracting the statistical medium-term trend of inflation. This paper uses asymmetric trimmed-mean approach to measure core inflation in...

The paper criticizes the translation of the so called GEKS (Gini - Eltetö - Köves - Szulc) method to make consistent (transitive, or "drift free") international comparisons of price indices (parities), into the intertemporal framework. It shows that transitivity appears to be "over-ambitious"...

Inflation is currently low and falling in the OECD area. A side effect of these facts is that they made harder the task of price index compilers. First of all, researchers and analysts are moving their attention from aggregate price dynamics to price differentials (among products, markets,...

Housing co-operatives, also known as “tenant-owner co-operative housing”, provide an alternative to both renting and owning a dwelling. As an indirect form of ownership, it poses some conceptual and practical issues to anyone aiming at compiling a price index covering all forms of...

This study deals with the problem of measuring the real exchange rate (RER). We consider four aspects of this measurement problem: (a) Using end- of- period or period averages of the nominal exchange rate. (b) Choosing price indexes. (c) In obtaining the real effective exchange rates (REER),...

This study deals with the problem of measuring the real exchange rate (RER). We consider four aspects of this measurement problem: (a) Using end- of- period or period averages of the nominal exchange rate. (b) Choosing price indexes. (c) In obtaining the real effective exchange rates (REER),...

The note examines a generalization of a theorem of Bortkiewicz which relates the difference between a Paasche and a Laspeyres price index to a covariance between price and quantity relatives. The generalized theorem is used to demonstrate a number of interesting special applications. It turns...

This document analyzes different measures of international inflation and their influence on the domestic inflation. We found that these measurements have a statistical significant effect on the behavior of domestic inflation. Therefore the evolution of the international inflation must be...

This paper uses the gap between the level of an economy’s well-being and that of a people’s well-being as a measure of the overall economic ill-being in a society. In particular, it argues that such disparity is measurable using objective measures of and subjective measures for inflation and...