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If you judge your economic news from the look on the face of the TV newsreaders then its nearly all good these days.

The reserves reach for the sky; the exchange rate of the pound goes up; and the rate of inflation is coming down to levels unheard of for nearly a decade.

Inflation in the last six months, they have started to tell us, "really" is down to single figures. And the message is clear: be content with a single figure wage increase.

Workers and their families who have to pay the prices, however, must be instinctively incredulous in the face of these economic "facts"

And a close look at what the figures mean certainly justifies the incredulity.

In fact the government and the capitalist press have several "rates of inflation"

Each of them is calculated in a different way and they can be publicised very selectively according to which one is moving most closely to what the government wants the working class to believe is "really" happening to inflation.

There is, theretore, plenty of chance for sleight of hand.

The first trick is to publicise "rates of inflation" which refer to prices which no consumer ever pays.

So, for instance, there are two figures which at the present time are getting a lot of publicity.

One is the rate of increase of "manufacturers' output prices" and the other the rate of increase of price rises notified to the Price Commission"

These rates of inflation at the present time are showing a yearly rate of increase of 6.1% and 7.3% respectively.

This, we are invited to believe, is "the real underlying rate of inflation" or some such mystification.

Manufacturers' output prices refer to the wholesale prices of all manufactured goods-not merely goods for consumption.

So it includes many things which do not enter into workers' cost of living.

And it excludes even more things which do affect the cost of living (all fresh foods, rent, travel, fuel etc).

The prices reported to the Price Commission are misleading partly for the same reason but also because only certain firms (the large ones)

have to report increases.

Statistical trick The iow rates of inflation bach these figures 3: Present ате : = =0:ae: staristical arme a recent at the same rate for a year).

So, for instance, in the last yeat manufacturers' output prices have gone up by nearly 20%.

But over the last three months they have risen by under two percent so this is called an annual rate of Hence this statistical device alone makes it look as if inflation is falline much faster than it really is. MILALAGAN.

But two other things make these inflation figures look especially favourable at present.

One is the fact tha t the new government Price Code came into force just over three months ago.

Although the Price Code does nothing to control prices in the interests of consumers it does make the increase of prices a more cumbersome TGWU Conference delegates the sliding scale of wages procedure for capitalists.

There were advantages, therefore, in putting up prices before the new code came into force.

That means that a range of price increases which would have come anyway over the last three months were simply brought forward.

And so thé last three months inflation rate is misleadingly low.

Secondly, in an effort to dress up the inflation rate as much as possible during the first part of Phase 3 of the wages policy the government imposed an unannounced (and strictly temporary freeze on price increases in the nationalised industries.

The announcement of new 16% fare rises by British Rail last week shows that this phoney truce is now coming to an end.

If we look at the price index which the government says is its estimate of the cost of living of working class iamilies. then this still shows tea:. despite all the tals oi So it Ing to TiriEs And the (hardly publicised) official Treasury estimate of inflation is that it will not fall to single figures before the end of 1978 at the earliest.

Even by the government's figures the present time is far from being the best moment for years in respect of inflation, it is the worst: the gap between earnings pue price increases over the last year is at a maxımumindicating a drop in average living standards of at least 8% over the past year.

It is important to say at least because the basic defect which all these measures of the inflation_rate have in common is that they are calculated by an agency of the capitalist state, behind the backs of the working class whose cost of living they are supposed to measure.

The amount of statistical trickery to which it is possible to submit such one-third voted for figures means that the pursuit of the sliding scale of wages by the working class must always be tied to the control of the calculation of price rises by the working class itself through its own independent trade union and housewives committees.

The importance of this becomes all the more plain when certain sections of the bourgeoisie are seen making use of something which has the appearance of the sliding scale for their own purposes.

Historically the capitalist class has in periods of falling prices forced a capitalist downward "sliding scale" on the workers.

During the Second World War in Britain many wages were tied to a cost of living index which was then flagrantly rigged by the Churchill government.

Indexation was not too surprisfind the Financial main economic ater. Sar Brittan. 1a5: weak ios the To Brittan, indexation of wages would be tactic designed to "bribe" unions to accept a very low annual increase in wages in exchange for later increases as the cost of living rises.

The fact that sections of the bourgeoisie want to use inflation-linked wages in this way should be a clear warning to workers.

The fight for the sliding scale of wages-for an inflation-proof standard of livingmust be linked not only to workers' control of the estimation of price increases but also to the demand that before a new sliding scale begins, wage levels must be increased to restore the ravages which inflation has by Schools have never been the most pleasant places to work in, but over the last few years they have become increasingly worse as enormous amounts of al system.

Today when school students leave school many find not jobs but only the dole queue.

Age limit It is with this in mind that the National Front have decided to lower their minimum age limii from 15 I0 11 and io set i= : = 900:

Young NE30:3 imposed on living the last two years.

United

Capitalist commentators like Brittan may dispute with Healey over the best tactic for keeping wage increases down but they are completely united in declaring any attempt to restore living standards to be impermissible.

schools have become fertile ground for breeding racial hatred and fascism.

Their aim is to divide the working class by blaming the crisis onto black people or the "reds".

Initiative

This new threat f om the NF has to be fought through the teachers' unions and the National Union of Students.

The NUSS has already taken the initiative by producing a leaflet which was given out ouiside certain London schools 7225 Including some wait rE Workers, however, need no cost of living index to tell them the importance of that fight today.

Restore and defend standards!

For a sliding scale of under workers control!

Break the 10% rule!

Destroy the coalition PHOTO: John Sturrock, Report NUT leaders however have done nothing worth noting so far in the fight against the YNF.

But we are told that the YNF is likely to be the subject of motions at next year's national conference!

Anti-fascist committees of teaching unions and NUSS in schools must be established where the YNF or NF have attempted to gain a foothold.

Wherever possible, action must be taken to stop Bulldog being distributed.

STILL AVAILABLE

The Fight Against Youth Unemployment A Policy for Youth Price 10p plus 7p p&p 1 WSL Youth Pamphlet F::= #SL. 31. Dartmouth Pars Hil. London This.

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money have been hacked away from the education-