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The US economy risks flying blind into a storm
Trump’s sacking of a key statistician has serious implications not just for America.
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The peril facing the economy isn’t a potential recession; it’s losing highly reliable, accurate and transparent data on the health of the world’s largest economy.
PHOTO: EPA
Kathryn Anne Edwards
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For the first time, the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labour Statistics has been fired by the President of the United States for political reasons, launching the US$30 trillion (S$38 trillion) economy into uncharted and dangerous territory. It’s hard to overstate the peril that awaits.
The Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS) compiles what are perhaps the country’s most important economic reports, including the monthly employment and inflation reports. The department’s commissioner is appointed by the President, but the BLS describes its work as “independent” and “non-partisan”.
