Larry Mishel

Major Diaspora philanthropists call on Netanyahu to end war and aid Gaza, in mass open letter - Jewish Telegraphic Agency The letter began circulating on Tuesday and had garnered more than 1,600 signatures by the afternoon.

Looking forward to Netanyahu condemning this international conspiracy of sinister Jewish financiers

www.jta.org/2025/08/06/i...

Former BLS commissioners: Trump’s war on data will do lasting harm [FREE TO READ] Reliable government statistics are one of the cornerstones of the American economy

Trump's war on data will do lasting damage - former BLS commissioners @ericagroshen.bsky.social and William Beach write for @financialtimes.com on.ft.com/3UNbf0x

Figure from Ernie Tedeschi titled nonfarm payroll employment percent revisions

Important to remember that because of the incredible work of government statisticians, initial BLS employment estimates have become MORE accurate.

Its revisions are now smaller than those from years past

excellent figure from @ernietedeschi.bsky.social

Preserving democracy in these times From protest to making good trouble, necessary trouble

Richard Rothstein has valuable suggestions for how we can all do more to push back against autocracy and achieve a more just society...

Preserving democracy in these times
open.substack.com/pub/justacti...

YouTube video by Unxeptable 🇮🇱🇮🇱 Israeli Security Chiefs Through the Decades “End the war and bring the hostages home!”

Israeli Security Chiefs Through the Decades: “End the war and bring the hostages home!” 🇮🇱🇮🇱
youtu.be/c-swkvFNRS0

This is an excellent treatment of Brown’s history and its recent dishonorable deal with the Trump administration.

I assumed Hamas took the hostages to the red Cross. There were no visits

some tough wisdom from Israeli former IDF and intelligence leaders

Opinion | Data from Calif. and D.C. shows how minimum wage hikes can hurt Recent experience underscores the perils of raising minimum wage above what the market can bear.

Probably unreasonable to expect the Post editorial board to stay on top of economic research but there are three studies of California's fast food minimum wage (not just the one they preferred to highlight)

The average estimate across studies suggests the policy had essentially no employment effect

Stephen Colbert and I — 15 years ago and tonight In 2010, I made a prediction on “The Colbert Report.” Tonight Colbert and I will meet again, on “The Late Show,” to disc

In 2010, I made a prediction on “The Colbert Report.”

Tonight Colbert and I will meet again, on “The Late Show,” to discuss my new book, “Coming Up Short,” and perhaps that prediction, too. https://robertreich.substack.com/p/stephen-colbert-and-i-15-years-ago

A particularly fascinating part of @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social's book, The Hammer, was his report on the emphasis the Culinary Workers Union places on continual *internal organizing*—ie, not taking already-unionized workers as a given. It's a key source of their superlative power amongst its peers.

Senator Elizabeth Warren: Firing of BLS commissioner is 'dangerous' Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) joins CNBC's 'Squawk on the Street' to discuss her reaction President Trump's firing of BSL chief, whether Congress is able to take action, and much more.

Elizabeth Warren went to CNBC today and destroyed Donald Trump on the economy. Trump is trying to bury this appearance with a tantrum on his failing media site.

Make sure this goes viral instead.

www.cnbc.com/video/2025/0...

I think you should examine the details of the process. What you suggest would be very obvious and wouldn't be able to be done without BLS people calling it out.

screenshot of the linked post titled "Trump’s firing of BLS commissioner is undemocratic and economically dangerous" by Heidi Shierholz, which reads: Today, Trump directed his team to fire the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) because he didn’t like the jobs numbers they released. This is a move straight out of an autocratic playbook. BLS is one of the most respected statistical agencies in the world, known for its methodological rigor, independence, and transparency. The president’s belief that the BLS commissioner personally “produced” the jobs numbers is preposterous and shows a complete misunderstanding of how government statistical agencies operate. These data are the product of careful work by hundreds of expert economists, statisticians, and civil servants following transparent, well-established methodologies.

From @hshierholz.bsky.social: Trump's firing of BLS commissioner is undemocratic and economically dangerous. Between illegal firings, starving data agencies of resources, and now political intimidation, the US looks set to run into the next economic downturn flying blind

www.epi.org/press/trumps...

these folks need to learn about the actual processes used to compile the data. The opportunity to change a number to 'million jobs gained' simply isn't there.

The economy is on the precipice of recession. That’s the clear takeaway from last week’s economic data dump. Consumer spending has flatlined, construction and manufacturing are contracting, and employment is set to fall. And with inflation on the rise, it is tough for the Fed to come to the rescue. Unemployment remains low, but that’s only because labor force growth has gone sideways. The foreign-born workforce is shrinking, and labor force participation is declining. Telling is the economy-wide hiring freeze, particularly for recent graduates, and the decline in hours worked. It’s no mystery why the economy is struggling; blame increasing U.S. tariffs and highly restrictive immigration policy. The tariffs are cutting increasingly deeply into the profits of American companies and the purchasing power of American households. Fewer immigrant workers means a smaller economy. Any notion that the economic data misrepresents the reality of how the economy is performing is way off base. There are revisions to the data, even big revisions, but they universally say the economy is doing worse. That’s because it is. BTW, the DOGE cuts are a key factor in the revisions—not because BLS has cut staff, although that can’t help, but because the government often reports payrolls to BLS late. It didn’t matter when government employment was stable, but now that it’s declining, the cuts are picked up in the revisions.

Trump is panicking because the economic numbers are giving a recession vibe.
From the Chief Economist at Moody's.

WELKER: Does the administration have any evidence that the jobs numbers were rigged?

HASSETT: The evidence is that there have been a bunch of revisions

WELKER: But hard evidence?

HASSETT: The revisions are hard evidence


(They are not "hard evidence")

I was the AEA's President Elect as the first Trump term began. We worried about government statistics then, and appointed a committee that included members (such as Google's Chief Economist) who might be in a position to help make reliable statistics available if the government went dark.
#econsky

Trump says the -818k 2024 benchmark payroll revisions show BLS commissioner McEntarfer was political and incompetent. Let’s look at the facts.
1. The revisions were released in Aug 2024, not Nov 15 as the president said. So the BLS release showing far less job growth came 3 mos. BEFORE the election

No, the commish can't issue their own numbers independent of what the staff says the surveys show.

Some of America's Most Important Economic Data Is Decaying Podcast Episode · Odd Lots · 04/30/2025 · 47m

Former BLS Commissioner William Beach, served in Trump1 & previously Chief Economist at GOP Senate Budget Committee, also Heritage Foundation & Mercatus.

Interviewed by @tracyalloway.bsky.social & @weisenthal.bsky.social on Odd Lots a couple of months ago.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

The Vital Importance of Good Economic Statistics (Re-broadcast) | Chats A discussion with Erica Groshen on the role of the BLS, the importance of good data for decision-making, and concerns about political interference degrading the integrity of government statistics.

Then former BLS Commissioner @ericagroshen.bsky.social interviewed @econofact.bsky.social.
econofact.org/podcast/the-...

nicely done

"[T]o say that the president of the U.S. is making drastic policy changes in order to cure a problem that only exists in his imagination, that’s a very difficult … that sounds unbalanced. That sounds like you’re shilling for the Democrats, when it’s in fact just reporting the flat truth."

yeah, revisions totally change the picture, indicating slow, sub-par growth.

How John Durham and Chuck Grassley Covered Up Getting Ass-Handed by Russia - emptywheel John Durham (with Chuck Grassley's help) tried to obscure that on the same day as the Russian spy report that drove his entire investigation, Russian spooks discussed seeding conspiracies about "dark ...

I've long believed 2016 Russian operation in US was most successful intelligence operation in recent history.

With disclosure that Durham investigation all predicated on disinformation, I double down on that opinion. Russia completely destroyed the United States.

www.emptywheel.net/2025/08/01/h...

Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Qatar have called for Hamas to disarm and for establishment of Palestinian state ALONGSIDE Israel. To keep it all real, Hamas just reaffirmed its commitment to one state (that's what it means to end of 'occupation' (they're not talking about W Bank!)

wondering how recognizing an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel is a reward for Hamas' terrorism. Hamas doesn't want two states, it wants all of Palestine? right?

CBS blockbuster analysis of Epstein video calls Michael Horowitz' integrity into serious question.

Also, it's a real coward's move not to link to the post, which proceeds to explain *why* and *in what way* it represents a cautionary tale!

Here's the post, so you can judge:

lpeproject.org/blog/why-we-...