Hurray: President Obama has dropped his notion of using a change in the price index to cut Social Security benefits.
This is a big deal, not just because of the concrete implications for retirees, but because it signals the end of an era. BowlesSimpsonism is dead; “responsible” policy will no longer be defined as the search for a fiscal Grand Bargain.
We might even be on the path to grappling with America’s real problems.