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The Center for Economic and Policy Research's Dean Baker explains that in the proposed formula "the annual cost of living adjustment for Social Security benefits would be indexed to the chained consumer price index rather than the CPI for wage and clerical workers (CPI-W) to which it is now indexed."
The "Chained CPI" is a flawed strategy, The Nation's Bryce Covert writes, because it uses
[...] a measure that tries to take into account human behavior in reaction to price increases--specifically, the substitution for something cheaper if the price of what you normally buy goes up. If provolone costs a fortune, perhaps I'll switch to Swiss. Unfortunately for the elderly, they buy products that don't behave much like provolone. As Dean Baker explains, the elderly spend more of their money on health care, which has seen costs far outpace the costs of cheese, and are also generally less likely to be able to make substitutions on what they buy.
More reactions today on Twitter from progressives:
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |

The Center for Economic and Policy Research's Dean Baker explains that in the proposed formula "the annual cost of living adjustment for Social Security benefits would be indexed to the chained consumer price index rather than the CPI for wage and clerical workers (CPI-W) to which it is now indexed."
The "Chained CPI" is a flawed strategy, The Nation's Bryce Covert writes, because it uses
[...] a measure that tries to take into account human behavior in reaction to price increases--specifically, the substitution for something cheaper if the price of what you normally buy goes up. If provolone costs a fortune, perhaps I'll switch to Swiss. Unfortunately for the elderly, they buy products that don't behave much like provolone. As Dean Baker explains, the elderly spend more of their money on health care, which has seen costs far outpace the costs of cheese, and are also generally less likely to be able to make substitutions on what they buy.
More reactions today on Twitter from progressives:

The Center for Economic and Policy Research's Dean Baker explains that in the proposed formula "the annual cost of living adjustment for Social Security benefits would be indexed to the chained consumer price index rather than the CPI for wage and clerical workers (CPI-W) to which it is now indexed."
The "Chained CPI" is a flawed strategy, The Nation's Bryce Covert writes, because it uses
[...] a measure that tries to take into account human behavior in reaction to price increases--specifically, the substitution for something cheaper if the price of what you normally buy goes up. If provolone costs a fortune, perhaps I'll switch to Swiss. Unfortunately for the elderly, they buy products that don't behave much like provolone. As Dean Baker explains, the elderly spend more of their money on health care, which has seen costs far outpace the costs of cheese, and are also generally less likely to be able to make substitutions on what they buy.
More reactions today on Twitter from progressives: