名牌的东西在中国: The Power of Brand Names in China

在中国， 很多人愿意付很多钱买名牌的东西。 我想问你一个问题: 你觉得这个主意有好处吗？ 我一个朋友三年前主在中国。他说了吃饭便宜是便宜，可是他说衣服，别的东西, 太贵了。实际上, 92%来美国从中国人说：“名牌的衣服质量比较好。”（www.telegraph.co.uk）买东西的时候，他们只买名牌的要不然就不买。我觉得不一定。我觉得每个月少买名牌医些，他们一年可以省很多钱。 你穿什么衣服都可以好看。再说, 虽然不必买名牌不可，可是不觉得不穿名牌。要是衣服是打折的，你当然应该买。
Translation: In China, Many people are willing to spend a lot of money to buy brand name clothes. However I would like to ask you if you think this is a good idea. Consider one of my friends who lived in China three years ago. She said that although dining is definitely cheap, buying other things is often too expensive. In fact, 92% of American visitors from China say that "Brand name clothes automatically are of better quality." When it comes to buying clothes, they will buy brand names or not buy at all. I don't necessarily agree. If they would be willing to cut down on their shopping even a little each month, they will save so much money in a year's time. I believe you can make clothes that are not brand name somewhat fashionable. Finally, I am not saying that one should not buy brand names at all. If something is on sale, for example, then you should definitely buy it. I am simply an advocate of shoppers making decisions after some thought.

Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Seasonal Adjustment Explained

The consumer price index, created by the bureau of labor statistics, is designed to be a month-by-month report on the changes in prices paid for a specific service or good. In more basic terms, it is a measure for the increase in price. The CPI is definitely very dense in information- I intend to break it down to the very basic aspects. In all the examples, I will be using the March 2012 CPI. I will first explain trends. For a given month, the CPI will highlight the overall findings. For example, the March 2012 index states that "The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.3 percent in March on a seasonally adjusted basis, the U.S.Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 2.7 percent before seasonal adjustment."

What does this mean? Well, in order to understand the meaning, you must first understand the concept of seasonal adjustment. Seasonal adjustment is best expalined as an adjustment rate used to elimate the inevitable seasonal changes in data. This allows for a comparatively more accurate findings. For example, people are inevitabley going to pay more for lawn-mowers in the summer because it is more of a neccessity. However, if we were not to include the seasonal adjustment, we would misleadingly believe that people have gained a sudden interest in lawn-mowers. Now let's talk about the .3 percent increase. This increase means that in March of 2012, people are paying .3 percent more than they were previously. (As said before, it's essentially a measure of how much prices go up, and in turn, inflation.)Imagine that this number was exaturated to 5%. Although this may not seem like much, it means the average consumer cannot buy as much as they were before. Also keep in mind that these For example, The relative importance (how important is each item in the CPI? See chart above.) Caveat: Look at the breakdown! Sometimes, the CPI figure will be announced with the caveat that the CPI would be different if a certain product were not included. For example, the CPI for a month may be 2%. However, without gasoline, it may have been 1%. This means that the price of gasoline had a huge spike in prices and therefore affected the CPI a significant amount. Remember, increase CPI means people are paying more (inflation). The table below also tells us some other things, however I explained the CPI in a nutshell. I may elaborate further in future posts, but I think that even understanding this much is a great start.