[prepend]

“the CPI is the most studied economic measurement in the world” and it being fallible are not exclusive.

I had a great Econ 101 professor. He spend quite a few lectures breaking down how much these key stat suck. Then we spent the rest of the time using them for study because that’s what we have.

The key message he drilled into me was that 1) don’t be so certain of your results (or at least don’t sound like an asshole making pronouncements on things) 2) data are expensive to gather and there aren’t many alternatives; don’t ignore them because they have flaws

[unimployed]

I agree, but generally the assumptions being made by authors and known issues with the data are unstated rather than stated. Further, when highlighting such issues, the reactions can often be negative and dismissive. Obviously people don’t like their work being criticized for reasons that they have little control over (it sucks but that’s the best data we have). My point is the topic doesn’t get discussed enough to improve—outside of some corners of academics.