 In the 1970s and 80s the federal government began indexing several transfers and taxes including social security (see below "Uses of the CPI").The overestimation of CPI would imply that the increases in these taxes and transfers have been greater than necessary, meaning the government and taxpayers have overpaid for them.The Commission concluded that more than half of the overestimation was due to slow adjustments in the index to new products or changes in product quality.