Statistical Journal of the IAOS 27 (2011) 7–11 7 DOI 10.3233/SJI-2011-0717 IOS Press Recent developments in price and related statistics in Argentina Edmundo Berumen a,* and Victor A. Beker b a Berumen y Asociados, SA de CV, Altadena 15, Col. N´ apoles, Del. Benito Ju´ arez, 03810 M´ exico D.F., M´ exico b Director del Centro de Estudios de, Econom´ ıa de la Universidad de, Belgrano Argentina 1. Introduction The history of statistics in Argentina began with the 1869 national census, and evolved as do most national statistical offices, incorporating more and more statisti- cal indicators, improving coverage and methodological robustness. In 1894, the General Directorate for Statis- tics was created under the Ministry of Finance, until Instituto Nacional de Estad´ ısticas y Censos (INDEC) was created in 1968. Overall, until December 2006, it can be said that the country had reliable statistics. 2. Tampering with the consumer price index The CPI was established in 1924 by the General Directorate for Statistics for the city of Buenos Aires. During the period 1933–1999 it underwent six reviews and improvements, and coverage was extended to other constituencies of the country. In 2005 a new survey dealing with household expenses was collected, with the intention of using the results to review the index in 2007. However, at the end of 2007 the Head of the CPI Department, who had held the position for ten years, was replaced by a political appointee who had the com- plete trust of the Secretary of Commerce, because the current Head refused to introduce changes to the index methodology. The proposed (and refused) changes de- parted completely from the long proven methodology in place. As a result, the Head of the National Direc- * Corresponding author. E-mail: direccion@berumen.com.mx. torate under which the CPI Department was operating resigned. Once the new Head took Office, changes to calcu- late the CPI index were implemented and gross “in- terventions” in the professional work done by INDEC staff became “visible”. First changes were implement- ed in January 2007 and results published in February 5, 2007. In the six months previous to the removal of professional and technical staff, there were unfriend- ly and violent interventions to the ongoing profession- al and technical work at INDEC, endless discussions, and requests for information safeguarded by the laws on statistical secrecy – like the list of establishments where prices were surveyed- were continually request- ed and staff continually refused to yield. This impasse did not satisfy the Secretary of Commerce, responsible for the anti – inflationary policy of Government. Some illustrations follow. The first changes implemented were in: – Health Services. The lead price surveyed was the monthly fee charged by health establishments, usually known as “prepago” (”pre-payment”), and operated as a kind of health – insurance system. The government authorized at the beginning of 2007 an increment of between 18 and 22% in such fees. However, simultaneously, these establish- ments were authorized to offer another modality under which the monthly fee was increased by on- ly 2%, but users would be charged a co–payment fee each time they used any service (for example, in each medical outpatient visit). Field staff in charge of the CPI were asked to replace the price being surveyed, considering exclusively the co– payment system, with full knowledge that this new 1874-7655/11/$27.50  2011 – IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved