because I think it'll draw focus away from things I think are actually important but hard to measure.
This is frustrating. My supervisor was of the mind "if it can't be measured, it doesn't count" - a massive lack of insight into how things actually work in real life.
I don't know if you read or listen to books, but there is an interesting one on behavioural design (one of my interest areas) that is funny as well.
https://www.amazon.com/Afraid-Debbie-Marketing-Has-Left/dp/1786278952
so even when wages rise with inflation, people are still unhappy
For sure. Most of us don't really have a good grasp on even the basics of economics, or the impacts of inflation, but we feel comfortable voting on these things because we heard or read a headline.