The consumer price index is a measure that detects monthly changes in the retail prices of goods and services  The payment of some government retirement benefits is based on the consumer price index so that those benefits reflect the change in the cost of living as the index changes  However, the consumer price index does not consider technological innovations that may drastically reduce the cost of producing some goods
Ttherefore, the value of government benefits is sometimes greater than is warranted by the true change in costs
fails to consider the possibility that there are years in which there is no change in the consumer price index