The US Inflation Alphabet: A Primer

[2cents]

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!