short & clear: http://people.brandeis.edu/~cecchett/pdf/cpi5.pdf#search="benefit of chain weighted price index" older stuff but broader concepts explained: http://www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=5205&sequence=0 and more recent and instructive: http://www.phil.frb.org/publicaffairs/speeches/2005_santomero3.html explosive? perhaps... http://www.house.gov/budget/hearing...="benefits of chain-weighted price index CPI" and here's for a rainy day http://www.richmondfed.org/publications/economic_research/macro_economics/price.cfm and thats if you just can't stop analysing http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2007/tables.html good week-end all!