this harmonized basis would have increased three or four tenths of a percentage point more slowly than the published cpi, on average, over the past few years, largely because prices of owner - occupied housing have been rising more rapidly than the other components. arguably, the published index, with broader coverage, is more relevant to assessing inflation trends in the united states than would be the harmonized index. as long as relative prices can and do diverge across countries, the harmonized indexes need to contain as broad a range of items as is practical. as monetary union proceeds, then, it would be to the advantage of monetary authorities in the euro area to have a consistent measure of inflation defined over a broad basket of goods and services that is measured according to established statistical methods. most useful would be for the member countries to continue the harmonization process until the national statistical agencies are truly working on a consistent basis. indeed, measuring prices consistently across countries could be an important step toward making price measurement more accurate everywhere, if harmonization results in each country ’ s best practices being adopted throughout the monetary union. moreover, different prices of the same tradable good across the community might signal inefficiencies of distribution which were not evident from other sources. harmonization of cpis in europe is just one of many examples demonstrating why price measurement techniques cannot be static. with innovation constantly leading to new products, greater variety, and higher quality, the statistical agencies must work ever harder just to stay in place. a government official in the united states once compared a nation ’ s statistical system to a tailor, measuring the economy much as a tailor measures a person for a suit of clothes - - with the difference that, unlike the tailor, the person we are measuring is running while we try to measure him. the only way the system can succeed, he said, is to be just as fast and twice as agile. that is the challenge that lies ahead, and it is, indeed, a large one. there are, however, reasons for optimism. the information revolution, which lies behind so much of the rapid technological change that makes prices difficult to measure, may also play an important role in helping our statistical agencies acquire the necessary speed and agility to better capture the changes taking place in our economies. for example, computers might some day allow our statistical agencies to tap into a great many economic transactions on a nearly real - time basis. utilizing data from store checkout scanners, which the united states is

insecurity among workers. 14 flexible and part - time arrangements can present great opportunities to some workers, but the substantial increase in part - time workers does raise a number of concerns. part - time workers are particularly vulnerable to personal shocks due to lower levels of compensation, the absence of meaningful benefits, and even a lack of paid sick or personal days. not surprisingly, turnover is high in these part - time jobs. access to credit the economic marginalization that comes with the growth of part - time and low - paying jobs is exacerbated by inadequate access to credit for many working americans. ideally, people chronically short of cash would have access to safe and sound financial institutions that could provide reliable and affordable access to credit as well as good savings plans. unfortunately, many working americans have no practical access to reasonably priced financial products with safe features, much less the kind of safe and fair credit that is available to wealthier consumers. working americans have several core financial needs. they need a safe, accessible, and affordable method to deposit or cash checks, receive deposits, pay bills, and accrue savings. they may also need access to credit to tide them over until their next cash infusion arrives. they may be coming up short on paying their rent, their mortgage, an emergency medical expense, or an unexpected car repair. they may want access to a savings vehicle that, down the road, will help them pay for these items and for education or further training, or start a business. and many want some form of non - cash payment method to conduct transactions that are difficult or impossible to conduct using cash. products and services that serve these core financial needs are not consistently available at competitive rates to working americans. those with low and moderate incomes may have insufficient income or assets to meet the relatively high requirements needed to establish a credit history. others may have problems in their credit history that inhibit their ability to borrow on competitive terms. welsh, and sreenivas ramaswamy ( 2011 ), “ an economy that works : job creation and america's future, ” mckinsey global institute, june, www. mckinsey. com / insights / employment _ and _ growth / an _ economy _ that _ works _ for _ us _ job _ creation. see u. s. department of labor and u. s. department of commerce ( 1994 ), “ section five : contingent workers, ” in the final report of the dunlop commission on the future of worker - management