Evaluating State and Local Business Tax Incentives [pdf]

Re:Evaluating State and Local Business Tax Incentives [pdf] by brenden2 on Tuesday January 07, 2020 @02:09PM (#21983462)

One of my favourite examples of how the government moves the goalposts around to make the economy numbers go up is how they removed housing prices from the CPI in 1985.

Inflation is often used as a benchmark for economic health, but it completely ignores one of the biggest sources of inflation: the price of homes.

The utility of a house never increases (unless you make upgrades), so if the price goes up it's not really more valuable, assuming it rises at the same rate as nearby homes. It's not like you could sell and move into a fancier house nearby.

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Re:Evaluating State and Local Business Tax Incentives [pdf] by rmah on Tuesday January 07, 2020 @03:38PM (#21984525)

Housing prices are included in the CPI both for owners and renters. Here's how => https://www.bls.gov/cpi/factsheets/owners-equivalent-rent-an...

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Re:Evaluating State and Local Business Tax Incentives [pdf] by wasdfff on Tuesday January 07, 2020 @03:08PM (#21984219)

Selling and moving to a fancier place nearby is what many people do. You free up that equity and suddenly you can afford a sizable down payment on a nicer place that you couldn’t otherwise had you been renting the whole time.

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Re:Evaluating State and Local Business Tax Incentives [pdf] by brenden2 on Tuesday January 07, 2020 @04:56PM (#21985408)

This is only because most home purchases are fueled by debt.

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