Lauren Mitchell

U.S. Factory Orders Declined in June New orders from U.S. factories contracted 4.8% month over month to $611.7 billion in June. Orders have dropped for two of the past three months.

Oh man, who's he gonna fire this time? Math? Maybe he'll fire math.

August 1, 2025 AMERICAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION Committee on Economic Statistics and Committee on Government Relations Statement from the American Economic Association on the Dismissal of the BLS Commissioner Leaders of the American Economic Association express their grave concern over the dismissal of the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) earlier today. 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. Undermining the independence or credibility of these agencies threatens the integrity of the information that markets, institutions, and the public rely on every day. Measuring the vast and dynamic U.S. economy in real time is inherently challenging. It is standard practice for statistical estimates to be revised as more complete and higher-quality data become available. These revisions reflect the commitment of statistical agencies to accuracy, transparency, and methodological rigor-not failure or bias. The BLS has long had a well-deserved reputation for professional excellence and nonpartisan integrity. Safeguarding this tradition is vital for the continued health of the U.S. economy and public trust in our institutions. We call upon elected officials to respect and preserve the independence of the nation's statistical infrastructure. Lawrence Katz President, American Economic Association Katharine Abraham President-Elect, American Economic Association Karen Dynan Chair, American Economic Association Committee on Economic Statistics Kenneth Troske Chair, American Economic Association Committee on Government Relations

Statement from the largest economics association about the BLS firing

As context: AEA approximately never makes such public statements

This is a big deal

Bloodied Faces, Sobbing Children: Immigration Officers Smash Car Windows to Speed Up Arrests We’ve documented nearly 50 incidents of immigration officers shattering car windows to make arrests — a tactic experts say was rarely used before Trump took office. ICE claims its officers use a “mini...

NEW: We’ve documented nearly 50 incidents of immigration officers shattering car windows to make arrests — a tactic experts say was rarely used before Trump took office.

ICE claims officers use a “minimum amount of force.”

You can judge for yourself.

By @nicolefoy.bsky.social @mckenziefunk.com

Picture of Smithsonian History Museum documenting Trump's two impeachments.

Can't take away my phone's picture of it.

Someone I know has a student who has lost access to an administrative dataset run by Census because the student’s project is considered by Trump to be “DEI.”

They are looking for anyone in a similar boat who could connect and share ideas for regaining access so they can complete their dissertation.

Harvard provides Trump administration with thousands of employee records under subpoena - The Boston Globe The university's move is part of a review by the Department of Homeland Security.

Harvard University said that it has provided the federal government with employment records for thousands of employees under as part of a Homeland security review.

Harvard Is Said to Be Open to Spending Up To $500 Million to Resolve Trump Dispute

"resolve dispute" is a bizarre way to describe extortion.

The NIH’s 2024 budget of just under $37B generated $95B in economic activity in 2024 alone. 99.4% of new pharmaceuticals approved from 2010-2019 came from NIH-funded research. I’m hard pressed to think of anything that generates as much direct economic benefit as our NIH did before they destroyed it

Trump's masked agents aren't keeping us safe-they're just terrorizing immigrant communities. PROPORTION OF IMMIGRANTS TAKEN BY ICE, BY CRIMINAL RECORD 7% violent convictions 28% no violent convictions 65% no convictions ICE isn't going after criminals. It's breaking up families.

Assistant Professor - Open Field - Sociology University of California, Berkeley is hiring. Apply now!

Berkeley Sociology is hiring faculty! Sept 1 application deadline. Two positions: (1) open area junior search. aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05013, (2) associate or full professor in Anti-Black Racism and Social Inclusion aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05012 Please help spread the word!

Vermont school superintendent detained after trip to Nicaragua Wilmer Chavarria, the superintendent of the Winooski School District, was held by U.S. Customs and Border Protection while returning to the country after visiting family.

“I was threatened with being referred to the FBI... They also threatened to stain my record so I would never get a job again. They also threatened with an extended detention if I didn’t give them the passwords to the student information or to my district files."

Heard from #AHRQ that the entire grants staff has been let go! They are unable to issue funds for grants already funded, let alone fund new grants. This is outrageous and will make Americans poorer and sicker. Why? A brief thread about just some recent AHRQ-funded research: #MedSky #HealthPolicy

For the Epsteinth time, an 'underage woman' is called a CHILD.

Thanks for coming to my Pred Talk.

Talk about The Wire, Sopranos, Game of Thrones all you want, but the greatest US television program ever made is Sesame Street. It's not even close. 50+ years of treating kids across class, ethnicity, religion not as mini-consumers...but as citizens with a stake in this world.

CBS canceled Colbert’s show just THREE DAYS after Colbert called out CBS parent company Paramount for its $16M settlement with Trump – a deal that looks like bribery.

America deserves to know if his show was canceled for political reasons.

Watch and share his message.

Here's Colbert on July 14 making fun of Paramount for paying Trump $16 million. It's hard not to see CBS canceling his show through this lens.

"I believe this kind of complicated financial settlement with a sitting government official has a technical name in legal circles. It's big fat bribe."

The massive transfer of the personal data of millions of Medicaid recipients should alarm every American. This massive violation of our privacy laws must be halted immediately.

It will harm families across the nation and only cause more citizens to forego lifesaving access to health care.

FEMA Didn’t Answer Thousands of Calls From Flood Survivors, Documents Show

the times is reporting that fema let call center operator contracts expire on july 5, the day after the texas flood, and calls answered went from 99.7% that day to 36% the next to 16% the next www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/c...

There is no city, state or federal district where it is legal to terrorize and detain people for being brown and working in agriculture. These raids must stop immediately. 8/

people on here aren’t gonna like hearing this, but a sympathetic former ICE agent cutting ads about being forced to drop investigations into child pornographers to arrest gardeners would probably be pretty effective messaging.

Congress Passes Blank Bill For Trump To Write Whatever Law He Wants WASHINGTON—After weeks of eliminating what many lawmakers called “frivolous” and “unnecessary” provisions, Congress reportedly passed a blank bill Thursday in which President Donald Trump can simply write whatever law he wants.  “Today we are sending to the president’s desk 200 completely clean sheets of paper that are hereby codified such that anything he chooses to […]

Congress Passes Blank Bill For Trump To Write Whatever Law He Wants
theonion.com/congres...

Final vote. 50-50. VP breaks the tie.

One single GOP Senator could have stopped this abomination. Saved millions of parents from watching their child go hungry. Saved the lives destroyed when Medicaid disappears.

They will all live forever with the horror of this bill.

.@CBS8 in San Diego reports that due to Bishop Michael Pham’s presence in the courtroom, in effect, cases of migrants today were postponed.

Just days ago, Brad Lander called me to interpret for an Arabic-speaking asylee whose case was approved, yet ICE was still harassing him inside the building. Brad personally escorted him out to safety. He does this kind of work quietly, every day.

Hey there Scott Walker. I noticed you deleted this after learning that in fact the shooter was from the right. I don’t think it matters either way, violence is violence, so I’m waiting for you to tweet the same thing with corrected facts?

Cuz you’re uh, to use your words, “being silent.”

can’t believe this still needs to be said, but: stop following altNPS. none of them work for the NPS and they exist to do Qanon numbers station crap and sell merch. it’s annoying for a lot of us that are actually NPS. thanks

You can't teargas people into loving your policies

US Veterans peacefully protesting Trump’s military birthday parade arrested at Capitol Hill. This is the moment a 80+ year old US veteran is taken away in handcuffs for practicing his 1st Amendment right. #3E #NoKings #NoKingsProtests (🎥 @gregjstoker.bsky.social )

Something I've been feeling a lot lately, but haven't heard much about is the grief that comes with being an early career scientist in America in 2025.

I think we all understand that, even if things turn out well, there is no going "back to normal" now.

A (sad) thread /1

The first U.S. bishop appointed by Pope Leo XIV—a refugee himself—is mobilizing priests to accompany migrants at immigration court on June 20.

(Via Christopher Hale)