A sound policy change might actually occur

Dave Nicklaus has a nice column today explaining why it is a good idea to use a chain-weighted price index to adjust Social Security benefits for inflation. The idea has been around for a while and is uncontroversial on a technical level. The politics of it have always been difficult because the price index that has been in use, which overadjusts for increases in the cost of living, was a way to increase benefits without appearing to.