American statistics agency gets boss who calls figures ‘nonsense songs’

This article was last updated on August 12, 2025

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American statistics agency gets boss who calls figures ‘nonsense songs’

What if the national statistics agency continues to publish unfavorable figures about the costs of living and unemployment? Then you replace the director, and by someone who thinks the prices are falling and unemployment too.

Even in his own circle, surprise was made when US President Donald Trump’s head of the American statistics office Bureau or Labor Statistics Disapped two weeks ago.

He was not happy with the lean figures about the number of jobs in recent months. Director Erika Mcentarfer was fired immediately, because the office under her leadership According to Trump brought out “fake figures”.

Last night the president reported that he E.J. Antoni has appointed her successor at the Bureau or Labor Statistics. “Our economy is Booming and E.J. will ensure that the figures on this are honest and accurate”, wrote Trump On social media.

State capitalism

In the US, the Bureau of Labor Statistics collects all important economic figures: about unemployment, jobs, wages and inflation, just like the Central Bureau of Statistics does so in the Netherlands. Because such agencies must be able to operate independently, politics usually keeps away.

In the US this seems to change now. And according to the Financial Times, investors are very concerned about this. The Macro-economic figures from the US are “politicized”, wrote rabobank economists. “The US is marching towards state capitalism with the statistics office,” says The Wall Street Journal.

Neoliberal think tank

The worries are not only because Mcentarfer has been put on the side without any evidence of tampering with figures, but also because of the background of the 37-year-old Antoni. He is the chief economist of The Heritage Foundation, a neo -liberal think tank that is committed to a retreating government, Future leaders wants to train And mobilize conservatives.

The Heritage Foundation also helped with the so -called Project 2025 that Trump election promises immediately after his appointment helped convert into policy. As a result, Trump signed one in his first two months record number of decrees.

Trump’s second term, according to Trump

The question is whether the financial markets still assume the figures of the American statistics agency if the chief economist of this think tank is in charge. Antoni is quite critical about the Bureau of Labor Statistics: “false numplings“And one”random numbers generator“He ruled on social media.

Because where the inflation this year only showed a small decrease in March, wrote Antoni At the end of July that inflation has been falling throughout the year. He spoke of “really remarkable progress” under Trump. He called the less fast -growing employment in June a “Homerun“For the president.

Quality of the numbers

Antoni claimed last week that there is a “better way to process and distribute data” without indicating how. He called this “the task for the next boss of the BLS”.

Apart from the appointment of Antoni, there are also concerns about the working method of the Statistics Office. The prices are still mainly collected manually. Employees request the price of an average of 840,000 items every month. About 300,000 stores spread over the US are called or visited.

But partly due to cutbacks, there are more and more prices of products from all the different states lately. “Fortunately, the American statistics are not nearly as doubtful as the Argentinian figures or the Chinese data. But how can the FED and investors make the right decisions if there are concerns about the quality of the figures?”, Rabobank economists wonder.

Reliable or loyal?

The FED is also under fire at Trump as an independent central bank. The president from for months serious criticism of chairman Jerome Powell because the bank does not lower interest rates, a fiery wish from Trump.

He decides Powell for “stupid”, “foolish”, “huge loser” and “Trump-hater”. According to American media, the president has already made a list with potential successors for Powell, whom he wants but cannot fire.

Trump has a discussion with FED director Powell

Whether the new statistics boss Antoni, the inflation figures, which are important for the interest rate policy of the FED, can make better and reliable is doubted. “You don’t want anyone alone because he has been loyal for a long time but not the right experience,” said chief economist Feroli of the American bank J.P. Morgan in the New York Times.

This afternoon new figures about inflation in the US will be published. They must be calculated in the old way for the time being. The Senate still has to approve the appointment of Antoni.