as the economy improves and inflation sneaks back in the gap between the CPI and it's chained-mate will increase, as i understand it, (that is suggested by "It’s also possible, of course, that the slowdown was a temporary feature of the recession, i think") as seniors will stop buying what they would rather buy and move to cheaper stuff .. to penalize their income because they are buying cheaper stuff doesn't seem fair to me, especially when raising the cap for billionaires would fix SS as well .. i think that's what the chain means .. you buy cheaper stuff so your cost of living drops, so we drop the COLA to fit your savings .. that's it, isn't it?