Kathryn Anne Edwards

Statistics, public data leaders condemn Trump’s order to fire BLS commissioner One group, whose leadership includes two former BLS commissioners, called on Congress to respond immediately and investigate her removal.

Excellent recap of reactions to firing the BLS Commish.

fedscoop.com/statistics-p...

Trump economic adviser defends firing of labor official after soft jobs report Kevin Hassett pointed to the scale of hiring data revisions when asked for evidence to support Trump’s claims that the jobs report was politically rigged.

In my column yesterday about the Bureau of Labor Statistics, I explained the agency needs a leader committed to the data and its reporting, not the president. I called it the difference between a watchdog and a lapdog.

Prime example of the latter:

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Let's Tell Congress That When it Comes to Child Development, They Need to Go Big or Go Home Economist, mom (and IMO total bada$$) Kathryn Anne Edwards outlines her plan for a universal Child Development System

The care crisis isn’t a personal failing—it’s a policy choice.

@nicoletaetsch.bsky.social spoke with @kedseconomist.com about her bold plan to build a universal child development system.

This is what it looks like to treat care as public infrastructure. nicoletaetsch.substack.com/p/lets-tell-...

The Bureau of Labor Statistics Is Not the Problem Losing highly reliable, accurate and transparent data on the health of the world’s largest economy would be perilous.

It’s hard to overstate the perils that await the economy following President Trump’s decision to fire the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, says @kedseconomist.com

An economic mirage of sorts? The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 3% in Q2 — a higher-than-expected rebound. But there's more than meets the eye.

"Right now, the economy is idling in place, we're not moving forward or backward, but we are running out of gas."

That's me! You can hear me (or maybe you did live!) on the Marketplace Morning Report talking about the GDP report.

www.marketplace.org/episode/2025...

Not necessarily.

The Texas Economy Ain’t All That For all the impressive economic statistics, Texas doesn’t generate sufficient income or security for its residents.

What does a booming economy mean? Take my state, Texas: It's got strong growth, increasing population, low unemployment, but also low income, high poverty, and low credit scores.

I talk Texas's need for a long-term strategy to address its underlying weakness.
www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

YouTube video by Optimist Economy A Million Reasons to Raise the Minimum Wage | Optimist Economy

FDR didn’t just raise wages—he rewrote the rules.

@kedseconomist.com unpacks how his clash with the Supreme Court changed federal wage policy forever.

🎧 Listen in to learn how the fight for a fair wage goes back to FDR. www.youtube.com/watch?v=nS4kH...

Absolutely going to use my mistake to promote @kedseconomist.com 's great @rooseveltinstitute.org piece.

Let's go as big as families deserve My proposal for a universal Child Development System

The care crisis isn’t just about childcare. It’s about the gap between the labor market and the K–12 school day.

@kedseconomist.com lays out a bold proposal: a Child Development System that covers early care, after school, and summer—for every family, everywhere. www.kedits.com/cp/169052357

Social Security issued a press release yesterday claiming it's improved customer service. I'm skeptical, for 4 reasons:

1. SSA's career comms staff are mostly gone
2. SSA comms are now very partisan
3. Performance metrics are mostly gone
4. SSA is now cherrypicking misleading stats

Receipts in 🧵

100% agree

Hahahahahah it’s so tempting

I consider it a truly remarkable professional milestone that we did an episode of Optimist Economy on the minimum wage and it's not 10+ hours long.

Sub 60 minutes is keeping it tight by my standards!

rss.com/podcasts/opt...

Let's go as big as families deserve My proposal for a universal Child Development System

LOVE THIS: "We have been conditioned by scarcity for so long to have the lowest expectations...It takes confidence to be creative, and we’ve been insecure in care arrangements."

www.kedits.com/p/lets-go-as...

"Yes it’s about finding a safe place to keep children. Yes it’s about making it easier to go to work and bring home income...I used ‘Development’ because I am swinging for the fences, for children. The expectation is built right into the name that this is a place for children to grow."

Let's go as big as families deserve My proposal for a universal Child Development System

Really proud of this! I wrote a proposal for the @rooseveltinstitute.org about how to design a universal system for child care, after school, and summer.

In my latest newsletter, I talk about what it would look like, how it would work, and the potential it holds.

open.substack.com/pub/kedsecon...

From Crisis to Care: Reimagining Childcare as Public Infrastructure - Roosevelt Institute On July 21, 2025 the Roosevelt Institute will host a conversation with care experts to think about creative policy solutions to the ongoing childcare crisis.

Want to hear me wax ambitious about what child care could look like in the US? I'm on a panel presenting one of many ideas of how to serve families better. Happening right now!

rooseveltinstitute.org/event/from-c...

Trump’s Rage Erupts as Inflation Rises and His Pollster Openly Panics As Trump downplays the new inflation numbers by venting at the Fed (even as his pollster delivers very bad news), an economist explains how he’s put us on a slow downward slide that will get much, muc...

Trump's pollster finds GOP trailing by 3 points in generic House matchup in competitive districts, and by 7 among very motivated voters, with huge majorities wanting ACA tax credits extended.

On the pod, @kedseconomist.com is good on Trumponomics' failings:
newrepublic.com/article/1980...

Praise I’ll take!

Statistics and Politics Are a Dangerous Mix There are two threats currently facing government data agencies: inadequate funding and political interference.

How long can we trust government statistics? As long as we have civil service protections that keep key agency staff protected from political ire.

So, unfortunately, not that long if the Administration has their way with federal employee reclassification.

www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

If I were a better poster I’d post more about the podcast @kedseconomist.com and @rauzi.bsky.social host. It’s an economics show that focuses one policy per episode. Plus, they talk about things like everything you know about Stockholm syndrome being backwards! media.rss.com/optimistecon...

This episode of Optimist Economy was a dream come true, twice over.
One: I got to do policy history back to the 1700s!!!!
Two: It is also my #1 dream policy in the US to tax dynastic wealth to create a trust fund for children to cover child care, school lunch, and more.

rss.com/podcasts/opt...

Work Requirements Don’t Work Podcast Episode · Optimist Economy · 06/17/2025 · 54m

@kedseconomist.com had a BRILLIANT podcast episode about why work requirements don’t work on Optimist Economy recently.

Highly recommended listening.

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/o...

About That College Grad Who Can’t Find a Job… Optimist Economy · Episode

Lots of economists have tried to temper the alarmist talk about the job marker for college graduates. So if it's not in crisis, if it's not AI, what is going on?

Listen to the latest Optimist Economy to hear all about it.
open.spotify.com/episode/7mRj...

Pssst . . . it costs about the same amount to shore up Social Security's finances as it does to make the Trump tax cuts permanent.

But Congressional Republicans are on the verge of shoveling trillions at the wealthiest, while leaving a shortfall in the program we ALL need and love.

The Budget Bill Is Creating a Republican Existential Crisis If tax cuts don’t spur economic growth and a growing deficit requires new revenue, what is the purpose of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”?

www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

“Watching congressional Republicans carry on undeterred and unbothered by fiscal reality is like seeing the holdouts at the end of a concert. The lights are on and the music has stopped, but they’re awkwardly dancing in the bright silence, insisting the party can go on forever.”

^ my hot take.

“Whole Child, Whole Day, Whole Year” In which I am jealous of a colleague

All kids deserve a safe, enriching place to be while their parents work.

@ehaspel.bsky.social explores @kedseconomist.com's bold vision for childcare: a free, universal system that spans early childhood, after school, and summer. #fixingchildcare familyfrontier.substack.com/p/whole-chil...