Lars Vilhuber

isi-web.org/statement/st...
#bls #statistics

If the statistical agencies just made up numbers, they would not have to revise them.

Trump Fired America’s Economic Data Collector. History Shows the Perils.

@bencasselman.bsky.social writes www.nytimes.com/2025/08/03/b... a nice overview. There is no substitute for carefully and objectively collected, transparent, national statistics.

"This is the kind of thing you would only expect to see in a banana republic,” Ms. Yellen said.

With government statistics, it's pretty simple. If you liked the February, March, and April numbers, then you have to accept all the next ones, too. They are produced in the exact same way, it's what the computer spits out, based on the inputs provided. You do not get to cherry pick your stats.

Erika McEntarfer is brilliant and among the best examples of a deeply committed and consistently objective public servant. She’s earned the respect and trust of everyone who’s had the honor to work with her, including me. #EconSky

We call on Congress to respond immediately, to investigate the factors that led to Commissioner McEntarfer’s removal, to strongly urge the Commissioner’s continued service, and ensure that the nonpartisan integrity of the position is retained.

Join the Friends of BLS!
#econsky #statistics #data

The Friends of #BLS protest the firing of BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer.

The rationale for firing her is without merit and undermines the credibility of federal economic statistics that are a cornerstone of intelligent economic decision-making by businesses, families, and policymakers.

“The National Association for Business Economics (NABE) strongly condemns the removal of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Commissioner Erika McEntarfer and the unfounded accusations leveled against the work of the agency…

A totally apolitical group.

files.constantcontact.com/668faa28001/...

“The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”

Corrupt. Dangerous. Deeply deeply damaging.

Dr. Erika McEntarfer has devoted her career to public service. She has conducted herself as BLS Commissioner with great integrity. There is no evidence whatsoever that BLS data are politically biased.

#econsky

"Burning 1 kilogram of coal produces approximately 2.42 kilograms of carbon dioxide. When coal burns, the carbon in the coal combines with oxygen in the air to form CO2, and the molecular weight of CO2 is 3.67 times that of carbon."

So the real problem is oxygen, not coal... Let's regulate O2!

Opinion | A Rough Day in Court for Tariffs An appeals court seems skeptical of Trump’s use of an emergency law.

WSJ (now a lefty newspaper) editorial board concludes with " the President isn't a king, and the Constitution doesn't let him command the trade tides." www.wsj.com/opinion/dona...

The America First Policy Institute says cancelling the tariffs would "
deprive America of hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue."

That revenue comes from the pockets of American consumers and companies. Not foreign producers. It is a tax.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Yes, you can store data on a bird — enthusiast converts PNG to bird-shaped waveform, teaches young starling to recall file at up to 2MB/s Who needs Starlink when you've got an actual starling

This is the new database at HHS... share.google/EhW220YnWDPJ...

Clearly, Canada is about to invade the US bc of the tariffs... And the Coast Guard was just defending the border from the amassed forces (which probably had WOMD hidden in the bottom of the fishing boat... Or maybe just WORMS) www.jalopnik.com/1921967/u-s-...

Oh come on, @nytimes.com ,watch your language. Japan won't "pay a tariff". Consumers and importers of Japanese goods will pay an extra sales tax of 15%.

Set. Go! 🏁

Ready? Ready! ⛵

This is what you hope for when rowing....

When a nation's leaders tour a concentration camp... and threatens to strip citizenship and deport NY politician... I wonder what's next...

Whether we should compare "top 2 of 5"🇺🇸 to "top 2 of 4" 🇨🇦 is a more difficult question....

Number in 🇨🇦 would appear to be 83%, but Canadians were not asked whether they were "extremely" proud, the max was "very" proud... Which is very (but not extremely...) Canadian. (also: it went up since last year... Gee...)

Future historians, poor lot, studying this time period will have their work cut out for them...

This is great, bc boy do we have plastic, and we need all the headache pills we can produce....

Is that a quote from @markhamillofficial.bsky.social (though I'm not equating dear battered Earth to a Death Star)

East German uprising of 1953 - Wikipedia

Worth noting that between T47's birthday and #juneteenth lies June 17. In at least one place remembered as a day when the people rose against an oppressive state + crushed by obedient troops en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Ge...

Officers killed Black Americans at nearly three times the rate that they killed white Americans, roughly the same proportion as before. Source: NYTimes Morning newsletter, May 23, 2025

In some alternate universe, or country, this would qualify them for asylum...

Political decisions should in principle be made under some Rawlsian veil of ignorance... Will you be in power, or will the opposing party be in power? Right now, we are just facing malevolent ignorance with no veil at all...