Trusted Data Is a Vital Economic Asset

Without access to data that’s both objective and seen to be objective, financial markets and government policy are dangerously compromised. So alarm over the recent firing of Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer and the nomination of EJ Antoni, chief economist of the conservative Heritage Foundation, to succeed her is entirely warranted. In its own interests, as well as for the sake of the economy, the White House needs to contain the damage these decisions have caused.

The purported reason for removing McEntarfer was that the bureau’s latest release on hirings — a first estimate for July and updated numbers for May and June — had been rigged to make the administration look bad. The downward revisions to the earlier months were unusually big, to be sure, highlighting legitimate questions about the bureau’s methods and how to improve them. But these are difficult and long-standing technical challenges. There is no reason whatsoever to suspect the integrity of its chief, who is widely respected, or her staff.