Joshua Goodman

AEA Statement on Dismissal of BLS Comm.

"The independence of the federal statistical agencies is essential to the proper functioning of a modern economy. Accurate, timely, and impartial statistics are the foundation upon which households, businesses, and policymakers make critical decisions."

It has been the honor of my life to serve as Commissioner of BLS alongside the many dedicated civil servants tasked with measuring a vast and dynamic economy. It is vital and important work and I thank them for their service to this nation.

Senate confirms Trump's pick to oversee higher ed, a man tied to for-profit colleges The under secretary at the Department of Education oversees billions in federal financial aid.

It was the Senate's last vote on Friday night, but Trump's pick to oversee higher ed was confirmed in a 50-45 vote. More on Nicholas Kent, his time working with Gov. Glenn Youngkin, and his ties to for-profit colleges here: www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...

He fired her because her numbers were right.

Erika has had a distinguished public service career, serving with excellence and integrity. My many thanks to her.

@erikamcentarfer.bsky.social

@chloergibbs.bsky.social
@jscottclayton.bsky.social
@femmeeconomics.bsky.social
@jaredb-econ.bsky.social
@hboushey.bsky.social

Trump firing the BLS director for a bad jobs report - days after demanding the Smithsonian remove him from the list of impeached presidents - is banana republic stuff.

If a Democrat pulled these stunts, Republicans would be setting themselves on fire outside the White House.

I was a colleague of Erika's at CEA and can't think of a smarter, more honest person to run BLS. Which is why the president fired her.

Fed govt data is going to be a lot harder to trust going forward.

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

*gal

One thing the discussion around this post makes clear is that the current presidential administration is in the process of substantially diminishing the value of the federal government to the states.

That's not a good direction for the country to be heading in.

Senate committee endorses NIH budget increase, rebuking Trump administration’s proposed 40% cut Senators from both parties endorsed a $400 million increase to the budget of the National Institutes of Health on Thursday

More good news:

"Senators from both parties endorsed a $400 million *increase* to the budget of the NIH on Thursday, in an Appropriations Committee vote that represents a clear rebuke of President Trump’s plan to dramatically reduce the agency’s spending."
www.statnews.com/2025/07/31/n...

Pair this with AG lawsuits to demand appropriated funds and you've put the burden of fighting the federal government on the states rather than individual institutions, where it belongs.

Here's the @bostonglobe.com story for the local angle:

www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/31/m...

Now that the federal government is severely curtailing investments in science and education, state governments will need to step up.

This announcement from @massgovernor.bsky.social is a great development.

www.nytimes.com/live/2025/07...

A year ago, @amstatnews.bsky.social released a major report arguing that our federal statistical system was "at risk" due to falling response rates, shrinking budgets and the potential for political interference.
Today, they released an update finding that those risks have only grown. #EconSky

What there IS evidence of is a gradual erosion of the federal statistical system from declining response rates and shrinking budgets. Increased attrition under the Trump administration may be accelerating that decline.

Great to see my former professor (and Nobel Prize winner, etc.) @josephestiglitz.bsky.social here!

This is correct. The primary threats to government data are funding cuts, layoffs, worsening federal employees' working conditions & outright cancellations of programs. These are real problems, happening now

In contrast we'll quickly know if there are direct manipulations of headline economic data

HBCU Enrollment and Longer-Term Outcomes (August 2025) - Using data from nearly 1.2 million Black SAT takers, we find that students initially enrolling in a historically Black college and university (HBCU) are 14.6 percentage points more lik...

"[Black] students initially enrolling in a HBCU are 14.6 percentage pts more likely to earn a bachelor's degree and, ... have higher household income and more student loan balances... driven by relatively broad-access HBCUs in lieu of a two-year college or no college." www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...

Does the "Boost for Mathematics" Boost Mathematics? A Large-Scale Evaluation of the "Lesson Study" Methodology on Student Performance (August 2025) - Students in East Asian countries dominate international assessments. One possible explanation for their success is the use of "Lesson study" to enhance teaching practices; a collaborat...

A "lesson study" approach in Sweden improves teaching practices and boosts students' mathematics performance. The positive effect on student performance persists long after the intervention has ended. www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...

How Trump Defunded the Higher-Education Police The U.S. Department of Education used to employ people whose job was to stop waste, fraud, and abuse. Now, almost all of their desks are empty.

1/ I wrote for @theatlantic.com about what happened when Trump and Linda McMahon fired half the U.S. Department of Education: Everyone responsible for preventing higher education fraud is now gone. It's open season on students and taxpayers.

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

#979: Is too much democracy hamstringing our schools? with Vlad Kogan On this week’s Education Gadfly Show, Vlad Kogan—professor and director of undergraduate studies at The Ohio State University—joins us to discuss his forthcoming book, No Adult Left Behind: How Politi...

Terrific convo w/ Vlad Kogan about his new book: No Adult Left Behind. I got an early look at the book and it's terrific!

A few more thoughts 👇👇👇

fordhaminstitute.org/national/res...

Thanks to @ditikohli.bsky.social for calling attention to this increasingly important development.

@wheelockpolicybu.bsky.social @buwheelock.bsky.social

The @bostonglobe.com today covers one way in which colleges and universities are dealing with the economic strains largely triggered by the current presidential administration: cutting low enrollment degree programs.

I offer my dismal science observations.

www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/30/b...

I'm so excited to see this paper coming out in RESTUD.

Fun facts about this paper:
1) My amazing co-author Bruno and I had never met in person until after we completed the first draft.
2) It's my first and only paper that was never rejected by a journal.
3) I can now claim to understand macro.

Thanks to @aaronsojourner.org for bringing this to my attention.

@wheelockpolicybu.bsky.social
@buwheelock.bsky.social

I, along with many economists who have served in federal govt, signed this letter to Senate and House cmte chairs highlighting the importance of modernizing our economic data.

The quality of our data is currently headed in the wrong direction. We need to right this ship.

eig.org/bipartisan-c...

The follow-up email was even longer and referenced multiple schools and programs I do not work for.