Sort of a follow up to some previous posts in which I predicted that the Trump people would start releasing fake numbers to claim that the economy was doing well.
Here’s a report about the unqualified guy who Trump just picked to head the Bureau of Labor Statistics:
E.J. Antoni, the economist tapped by President Donald Trump to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics, suggested suspending the agency’s closely watched monthly jobs report, arguing that its underlying methodology, economic modeling and statistical assumptions are fundamentally flawed.
In other reports they’re talking about issuing what are supposed to be monthly reports on a quarterly basis, but I’ll address Antoni’s suggestion. If he sticks to it, he doesn’t have long to last in his new position, and Trump will find some other incompetent to replace him. Trump wants “good numbers” and that means he expects the BLS to lie about the economy if that’s what’s necessary. After all, he, himself, lies about everything and look where it’s gotten him. It works!
So I’m guessing we’ll soon be getting numbers from the BLS and other agencies that are entirely fictional. I’m also guessing that the media will treat those numbers as if they’re real, though perhaps in the last paragraph in their reports they’ll put in something about how some economists question their accuracy. You know, in the paragraph no one ever bothers to read.