Alberto Cavallo

摘要

To track inflation, each month the Bureau of Labor Statistics canvasses businesses and records the price of, say, a 4.4-pound bag of golden delicious apples, among hundreds of other items. The agency dials land lines to survey how consum-ers spend their money. It's essentially the same process the BLS has used for half a century. In a recent budget request, the agency admitted its methods are "in-creasingly out of touch" in the age of cell phones and e-commerce.