Why should hackers have any idea about economics? Not everyone can be a subject matter expert on everything, and it's easy to be swayed on topics like this where emotions run high (rightly so) and anecdotal evidence is everywhere.
As for the actual number being outlandish, I don't think most people have a sense of what "86% less purchasing power" even means. People see "<surprisingly big number> + less purchasing power" and that gets the eyeballs. "Hackers" are just as susceptible to this as any other non-experts.
Plus, plenty of people here do know what they're talking about, enough to call out the obvious problems in the article and charts.
As for the actual number being outlandish, I don't think most people have a sense of what "86% less purchasing power" even means. People see "<surprisingly big number> + less purchasing power" and that gets the eyeballs. "Hackers" are just as susceptible to this as any other non-experts.
Plus, plenty of people here do know what they're talking about, enough to call out the obvious problems in the article and charts.