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| | B. ECONOMIC ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS |
 | | The GDP deflator has increased by 4.0 percent for 1962 to 2002, and by 3.4, 7.6, 3.3, and 1.9 percent annually for the same respective 10-year periods. |
 | | Hence, for the intermediate assumptions, the ultimate annual increase in the GDP deflator is 2.5 percent, the sum of the 2.8 percent assumed ultimate annual increase in the CPI and the -0.3 percentage point price differential. |
 | | For the intermediate assumptions, the average annual growth in real GDP is projected to be 2.9 percent over the short-range projection period (2004-13), a slower rate than the 3.3 percent average observed over the historical 40-year period (1962-2002). |
| www.ssa.gov /OACT/TR/TR04/V_economic.html (3849 words) |
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