BLS DAILY REPORT, THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 1997 White House and congressional officials are getting flak from party colleagues for supporting the idea of an independent commission to revise the government's inflation index, slowing the momentum for the proposal ....Part of the difficulty is defining the panel, deciding on its members, mandate, and timetable. Many rank-and-file politicians insist that no expert panel would have the credibility of the BLS technocrats who now compile the CPI, especially when the president and Congress are desperate for big savings to balance the budget while cutting taxes and finding new initiatives. "Politicians of either party, in the end, won't sign off on anyone else doing it other than BLS," says Ohio Rep. John Boehner, head of the House Republican Conference ....(Wall Street Journal, page A2). A Wall Street Journal editorial says the GOP should do the right thing on the CPI ....Which is to go ahead and make the inflation adjustment. Two-thirds of the academic economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal believe the right government policies can boost the American economic growth rate by a substantial one-half percentage point a year, a profoundly optimistic view. But they have a harder time agreeing on what it is the government should do, though. Given 10 choices, most economists responding to the poll said none of them would have a "major positive impact on growth". Asked to pick one anyway, 43 percent say more government spending on education and research and development would give the biggest bang for the buck ....(Wall Street Journal, page A2). Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan told a House Banking subcommittee he has no opinion as to whether Congress should trim cost-of-living adjustments that affect federal benefit payments and tax brackets ....During an earlier-morning appearance before the National Association of Business Economists, Greenspan said the Fed would not be willing to publish its own price index. The best price statisticians are housed at BLS, which constructs the CPI. "We can't match the skills that they have," he said ....(Daily Labor Report, page A-9)_____Greenspan told the House subcommittee that he wasn't seeking to "Jawbone" the market downward because, in his view, that's not possible ....He said, if Congress wished to protect some groups from the impact of using a more accurate price measure, he would have no objection ....(Washington Post, page E4)_____Comments by Greenspan relieved a worried stock market, driving up prices ....(New York Times, page B1)_____Greenspan said the economy remains in the zone where inflation risks "are on the upside" and that he is poised to act "pre-emptively" by raising interest rates ....(Wall Street Journal, page A3). Checking out at a supermarket isn't as costly as most people think. Prices for the top 100 packaged-goods categories (excluding meats, fresh vegetables, and fruits) rose just 2 percent a year for the four years that ended in September, says a study of supermarket checkout prices that A.C. Nielsen Co. conducted for The Wall Street Journal ....Yet shoppers persist in believing that they're getting ripped off -- and economists and marketing experts say the grocery industry may have only itself to blame. With a proliferation of new products and sizes, double-discount coupons and store specials, it's no wonder consumes are confused about what's a good buy ....Also, shoppers are more sensitive to price increases. Wages aren't rising as fast as they used to, and other consumer goods, such as apparel and television, have been coming down in price. Prices at retail stores in general fell 1.1 percent over the past four years, says Economic Analysis Associates in Greenwich, Conn. "Food looks high relative to other goods" ....But many large companies are trimming their product lines and planning to introduce fewer new products in the future. That leads some marketing experts to predict manufacturers will have more power to eventually raise prices -- meaning expectations of higher inflation could come true after all ....(Wall Street Journal, page B1). As part of its effort to keep its Internet home page up-to-date, the Labor Department is regularly changing the structure of the site. Recent changes to the home page -- /http:www.dol.gov/ -- include addition of two new "hot buttons," one for teen safety, the other for the Family and Medical Leave Act ....(Daily Labor Report, page A-10). DUE OUT TOMORROW: The Employment Situation: February 1997
