why did Robert J. Gordon sign on to the cause of revising the CPI? (1) he's been in favor of revising it for _years_. Just look at old editions of his intermediate MACROECONOMICS book! He's been advocating the replacement of the CPI by the implicit Consumer Expenditure deflator of the NIPA. BTW, why has the idea of such a replacement disappeared? (2) he's a right-wing new Keynesian (a.k.a. monetarist). By strange coincidence, I got to read the drafts of several chapters of an intro text he was writing. He went on & on about how wonderful the "longest peacetime prosperity" of the Reagan years was. in pen-l solidarity, Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Econ. Dept., Loyola Marymount Univ. 7900 Loyola Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90045-8410 USA 310/338-2948 (daytime, during workweek); FAX: 310/338-1950 "It takes a busload of faith to get by." -- Lou Reed.