Trump’s Data War: Is US Economic Truth Dead?
Trump’s attacks threaten trust in vital economic data.
US President Donald Trump has unleashed a fierce assault on the nation’s economic data, raising alarms about the reliability of critical statistics that shape global markets and policy decisions. After a disappointing jobs report, Trump labeled the numbers “phony” and fired Erika McEntarfer, the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the agency tasked with tracking jobs, wages, and inflation. This unprecedented attack didn’t stop there—Trump also falsely claimed to have dismissed a Federal Reserve governor, Lisa Cook, who clarified he lacked the authority to do so.
The BLS, a cornerstone of impartial economic reporting, is now under siege. Trump’s appointment of a loyalist, who suggested halting jobs data releases altogether, has deepened fears of political meddling. Budget cuts have already gutted the agency, leading to staff shortages, fewer surveys, and less precise data. Over 8,000 government webpages and numerous datasets, funded by taxpayers, have vanished as staff maintaining them were let go. Academics have scrambled to launch the Data Rescue Project to preserve this endangered information.
The ripple effects are profound. The Federal Reserve relies on BLS data, like the consumer price index (CPI), to set interest rates that influence everything from mortgages to car loans. Financial markets, worth trillions, react sharply to these reports. Yet, Trump’s actions—slashing funding and then blaming the BLS for resulting inaccuracies—create a dangerous cycle that erodes trust in these vital numbers.
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Meanwhile, some Wall Street traders are turning to alternative data, like satellite images of oil tankers or Walmart parking lots, to gauge economic health in real time. While innovative, these sources are costly and inaccessible to most, creating inequities in market access. A recent study shows satellite data can predict niche metrics like crude oil inventories, but it’s far from replacing comprehensive, publicly available labor and inflation surveys.
Historical parallels are chilling. Countries like Argentina and Greece, where economic data was manipulated, faced crises as trust collapsed. Trump’s moves risk pushing the US toward a similar fate, undermining the credibility of the world’s largest economy. As the administration continues its war on data, the question looms: can we still trust the numbers that drive America’s economic decisions?
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