OLLI 0211 - Econ 101: Measuring Inflation
Course Description
Monthly, we read about the latest changes to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the Producer Price Index (PPI), and the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index (PCE). All are measures of inflation. This session explores the differences between measures of inflation and explores the complicated process of measuring inflation. Annually, Social Security uses the CPI-W to determine the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). Some policy makers have proposed that Social Security switch to the chained consumer price index (C-CPI-W). We will explore the differences between the two measures and the implications for seniors in the choice of inflation measure. Presenter Marty Eisenberg earned his PhD in economics from the University of Pennsylvania with an emphasis on economic history.
Presenter(s)
Marty Eisenberg
Marty Eisenberg recently retired as a higher education software consultant. Previously, he spent nearly 30 years in higher education working as an Associate Provost, Dean, and faculty member at Ohio Wesleyan University, Truman State University, and Knox College. He earned his PhD in economics from the University of Pennsylvania with an emphasis on economic history. His dissertation research focused on compulsory attendance laws in the United States between the end of the Civil War and WWI. He voraciously reads US history in an effort to understand current events through the lens of history.