Julia Coronado

Economist Amartya Sen won a Nobel in part for asking: Why did India avoid the mass famines that killed tens of millions in China? His answer: a free press. Journalists could expose suffering and shame governments into action. Silence and avoidance, by contrast, can be deadly.

Lot of melted brains out there

What to make of POTUS's attempt to fire the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)?

Let's run down what knowledgable people are saying...

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."

I stand by this…what we are seeing is escalation not CO

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.

The National Association for Business Economics (NABE) strongly condemns the baseless removal of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Commissioner Erika McEntarfer and the unfounded accusations leveled against the work of the agency. This unprecedented attack on the U.S. statistical system threatens the long-standing credibility of our economic data infrastructure.

NABE strongly condemns the baseless
removal of BLS Commissioner McEntarfer & the unfounded accusations leveled against the work of the agency. This unprecedented attack on the US statistical system threatens the long-standing credibility of our data

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

Please make it stop!

@mcuban.bsky.social would you consider funding an independent statistical agency for the US??

Whelp there it is:

*TRUMP TO FIRE LABOR STATISTICS CHIEF AFTER WEAK JOBS DATA

This is the second largest 2m revision on record. In general they get larger at cyclical turning points. We take more signal that we are at a cyclical turning point than that there is some data collection conspiracy

Financial markets and the US economy are in a tug-of-war between two paradoxes Jevons Paradox is your reigning bull case. After July payrolls underwhelmed, enter the Paradox of Thrift....

interestingly just wrote on exactly that! sherwood.news/markets/fina...

We are about to find out the hard way that the economy is driven by humans. Thriving humans drive growth, and data centers, stablecoins & AI are not valuable without them

We are losing our foreign born workforce with only a small offset from domestic born workers since they were already participating at peak rates. ICE is bad for the economy

The Trump slowdown has arrived

Holy cow! With these huge revisions nonfarm payroll job gains are running just 35k and private education and health care is the only sector keeping us in positive territory

The federal government is paying more than 154,000 people not to work Early resignation offers and other programs have reduced the workforce, but critics say the moves are also wasting money.

Exclusive: The government is paying more than 154,000 federal employees not to work as part of the Trump administration’s deferred resignation program.

Powell pretty doggedly neutral on a September rate cut

Consumer spending is slowing, there may have been some pull forward of good purchases ahead of the trade war, but people are spending less on discretionary services too in what looks like a classic rise in precautionary savings in an uncertain world

Based on today's trade data and tariffs collected in June the effective tariff rate was 10.1% already--not your 2018 trade war

They’re making JPOW fancams on TikTok again

Polarized America

(West South Central is Texas/OK/LA/AR, middle Atlantic includes NY/NJ/PA, Pacific is under military occupation)

West coast vibes not great

sir they have been occupied by a hostile military force, fashion district shut down, music, sporting events are ghost towns. Agree it is under discussed!

Just so’s we’re all clear, almost 3/4 of everything we buy from Europe is now 15% more expensive.

The weighted average tariff in effect on US imports continues to creep higher w/ every announcement taking it to levels not seen since the 1930s & customs collections are on track for >$350bn in taxes on US firms & consumers per year while the media dutifully reports things as "not as bad as feared"

Aspiring to the match the peace of Axl
Happy #Caturday #catsofbluesky

I think of JPow as the Stephen Colbert of monetary policy...he is getting cancelled next May but between now and then...

Who is Arrested by ICE under Trump 2.0? A 🧵

New from me & @elizabethacox.bsky.social!

Piece: immresearch.org/publications...

1. ICE arrests spike in Jan & May 2025; when arrests increase, percent of those arrested who are convicted of a crime falls

Majority arrested have no criminal conviction

Trump is going to the Fed tomorrow at 4pm, per guidance from the White House. Other administration officials will be touring the construction site of its new headquarters as well tomorrow