Bureau of labor statistics

The Number: Why the Consumer Price Index Is Way More Important Than You Think

This is part 6 of my series on Who Is Government?: The Untold Story of Public Service by Michael Lewis.

Most chapters in this book have a person at the center. A scientist, an engineer, a government worker doing something remarkable. This chapter is different. John Lanchester’s essay is about a number. Just one number. And by the end, you’ll understand why that one number matters more than almost anything else the government produces.