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September 1996

An experimental Consumer Price Index for the poor

Thesia I. Garner, David S. Johnson, Mary Kokoski

In this article, experimental Laspeyres, Paasche, and Fisher price indexes are derived for poor consumers. The minimal differences between these indexes and the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the calculation of poverty rates indicate that the poor and the general population face similar price trends.

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