Measure the Thing You are Buying

The gap between what gets reported and what is real widened everywhere at once this cycle, and not one instance required anybody to lie. Which is the harder problem, because it cannot be closed by catching anyone — only by checking, and three years of cheap capital and a good story made checking feel optional. Then the last third of the episode turns the same question on the listener's own books, where none of the deferral mechanisms are available.