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DISCRETIONARY: A specific choice, act, or decision, often designed to achieve a particular goal. The term is commonly used in economics in reference to government policies, such as discretionary fiscal policy or discretionary monetary policy. In both examples, government undertakes explicit actions through changes in government spending, taxes, the money supply, or interest rates to stabilize the business cycle. Discretionary is also frequently used to modify income, spending, expenditures, or comparable terms to capture choices made over the use of income. Discretionary income, for example, is the amount of after-tax household income that can be used for either consumption spending or saving.
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                           WHOLESALE PRICE INDEX: An index of the prices paid by retail stores for the products they ultimately resell to consumers. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) was the forerunner of the modern Producer Price Index (PPI) and was discontinued in 1978. Other noted price indexes used to track economic activity are the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the GDP price deflator. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) was first published in 1902, and was one of the more important economic indicators available to policy makers until it was replaced by the PPI in 1978. The change to Producer Price Index in 1978 reflected, as much as a name change, a change in focus of this index away from the limited wholesaler-to-retailer transaction to encompass all stages of production. While the WPI is no longer available, the family of producer price indexes provides a close counterpart in what is labeled the Finished Goods Price Index.The importance of the WPI rested with its ability to forewarn later changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and inflation. The WPI's forecasting ability rested with the simply input-output relation for retail stores. In other words, the prices PAID BY retail stores for their inputs are largely passed along as prices CHARGED TO consumers buying these goods as outputs. An increase in the WPI resulting from higher input prices this month, is likely reflected in an increase in the CPI in future months. This forecasting ability was frequently useful for stabilization policies. Suppose, for example, that the Chairman of the Federal Reserve System wanted to prevent inflation. Even though the CPI and GDP price deflator were relatively stable, an increase in the WPI would have prompted the Chairman to initiate contractionary monetary policy, making a pre-emptive strike against inflation.
 Recommended Citation:WHOLESALE PRICE INDEX, AmosWEB Encyclonomic WEB*pedia, http://www.AmosWEB.com, AmosWEB LLC, 2000-2025. [Accessed: July 8, 2025]. Check Out These Related Terms... | | | | | | | Or For A Little Background... | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | And For Further Study... | | | | | | | | | | | Related Websites (Will Open in New Window)... | |
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BLUE PLACIDOLA [What's This?]
Today, you are likely to spend a great deal of time strolling around a discount warehouse buying club wanting to buy either a flower arrangement with a lot of roses for your grandmother or a wall poster commemorating the first day of winter. Be on the lookout for broken fingernail clippers. Your Complete Scope
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Okun's Law posits that the unemployment rate increases by 1% for every 2% gap between real GDP and full-employment real GDP.
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"Progress always involves risk. You can't steal second base and keep your foot on first. " -- Frederick B. Wilcox
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WIPO World Intellectual Property Organization
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