Price Measurement
Special Report: Putting the Economy in Order
Consumer Price Index: Political, Bureaucratic, and Social Struggles (1911–2012)
By Béatrice TouchelayEnglish
Nothing today, within the social, political and economic spaces, seems more obvious and natural than price evolution measurement. However, the career of consumer price index, since its creation, is not straight and has not accomplished smoothly. This article proposes to follow such quantification technique career within three successive historical configurations are marked by the intensity of controversies around the price index : each of these three periods are characterized by different forms of economic orders.