The Mexican-American Legal Defence and Education Fund, alongside the Democrats but not the Republicans, has lobbied for having a statistically estimated adjustment in the census, to take account of the many poor, migrant, homeless and illegal people whom the census may miss.

ECONOMIST: Special-interest groups

Instead, it is using an inflation index it has developed, called the Higher Education Cost Adjustment, which is designed to take into account the cost of the goods and services purchased by colleges and universities, and which is consistently higher than CPI.

FORBES: Public Higher Ed Spending Has Risen Significantly

The coalition will be relying on increased state revenue to account for about 80 per cent of the fiscal adjustment required in 2013 -- a reversal of the original bailout plan, in which consolidation was to be achieved mainly through spending cuts.

CNN: Portugal braced for 'fiscal earthquake'

It does not, however, appear that the seasonal adjustment scheme takes into account the fact that the most seasonal part of the economy is also the part that is much smaller than it was at the time that the seasonal adjustment factors were set.

FORBES: Seasonally Adjustment Distorts Figures

The proposed regulations provide that if a taxpayer sells an interest in an S corporation or partnership interest on the installment method, any adjustment to net gain is computed in the year of sale and is taken into account proportionately as each payment is received and gain is recognized.

FORBES: The Elf On A Shelf Will Haunt Your Kid's Dreams, And More Thoughts On The Obamacare Investment Tax

The current-account deficit, now around 5% of GDP, is a key factor: if capital flows into America slowed even more sharply, or dried up, the adjustment involved in reducing the current-account deficit could be painful both for America and the rest of the world.

ECONOMIST: Time for a rethink | The