The author summarizes the report’s methods, findings, and recommendations, and then reviews the comments and criticisms that appeared soon after the report was issued. Changes in CPI methodology are also summarized and assessed, as is recent research on related issues. Based on recent research, the author suggest that the bias estimate for 1995-96 should have been 1.2 to 1.3 percentage points, not 1.1 points. He estimates that the upward bias in the CPI has declined from the revised 1.2-1.3 percentage points in the Boskin era to about 0.8 points today. Yet he notes that the Boskin report, like most contemporary studies of quality change, failed to accord sufficient importance to the value of new products and increased longevity. Allowing for these, he concludes that the current upward bias in the US CPI is at least 1.0 percentage points per year.
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