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I am currently writing the proposal for my dissertation, "The 
Construction of the Consumer Price Index, 1919-1975: Theory, Practice, and 
Politics."  As the title implies, I will examine the theory and practice 
behind the calculation of the CPI and the efforts of the Bureau of Labor 
Statistics to establish it as a credible and meaningful economic 
statistic. 
 
I am a graduate student in the history of science, and so I am 
relatively familiar with the literature on the history of statistics from 
a history or sociology of science perspective (eg., Ted Porter, Ian 
Hacking, Donald Mackenzie, etc.).  However, I know much less about work in 
the history of economics (or economic history), and unfortunately, no one 
in my department knows very much either.  If anyone here has suggestions 
about particular authors, articles, books, etc. that I should take a look 
at, I would appreciate hearing your thoughts. 
 
Thank you, 
Tom Stapleford 
Harvard University 
 
 
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