In “The Number,” John Lanchester examines the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a critical economic measurement that affects countless aspects of life in the US. The essay opens with a series of seemingly disconnected facts about various topics before revealing that the central character of the essay is not a person but a number—the CPI. Lanchester explains that the CPI functions as more than just an economic indicator; it is a cornerstone of US governance and democratic principles. The statistic directly influences social security payments, food assistance programs, tax brackets, business contracts, court orders, and millions of workers’ salaries. Despite its importance, most people only notice the CPI when inflation becomes problematic, making it an invisible but powerful force in everyday life.

The essay details the extensive process behind calculating the CPI. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) collects data on thousands of items across the country, from specific types of cheese to recreational equipment, housing costs, and healthcare expenses. Lanchester illustrates how this massive undertaking transforms millions of data points into a single number that aims to represent the average change in consumer prices nationwide. The author acknowledges the inherent limitations of such a project—creating a universal metric for a diverse population of 340 million people—while emphasizing its necessity for a functioning society.