Sometimes I forget how varied financial literacy is even amongst my own friends & family. I was talking to my dad recently about how the inflation number the government puts out is a joke. He was genuinely confused when he said, “How do they do that?” He had no idea that the CPI is manipulated to hide inflation. 1. The CPI basket changes over time If steak gets too expensive, the model assumes you’ll “substitute” with chicken. So the government counts the price of chicken… not the fact that you can no longer afford steak. Not to mention that there is a pharma industrial complex for anti-meat lobbying. 2. They use “hedonic adjustments” If a product is “better” than last year—like your phone—they adjust the price down in the index because you’re “getting more value.” Even if you paid more dollars. 3. Housing is based on “Owners’ Equivalent Rent” Instead of home prices, they ask homeowners: “What would your house rent for?” This means housing inflation can be wildly understated—especially during bubbles. 4. Energy and food get downplayed Core CPI removes them because they’re “volatile”… but they’re also the things people buy & use every single day. Just to name a few. Many people don’t realize that the headline inflation number is: • a model, • full of assumptions, • adjusted by economists, • and not designed to track real world affordability. It’s not that the CPI is fake—it’s just designed for policy, not for your wallet. And once you explain that, people suddenly understand why the official “3% inflation” never matches the lived reality of groceries, housing, insurance, and medical bills. So while the CPI is not “fake” it’s not exactly real either. S/o to amazing Bitcoiners like @Saifedean Ammous who have helped me understand this.