Why I Will Not Use U.S. Government Data for Three More Years

Fake Jobs Are Not Real Jobs

[Update April 20, 2014. This article was featured in James Taranto’s “Best of the Web Today” column in the Wall Street Journal. Click here to see it.]

[Update May 18, 2014. In response to a comment from larsschall.com, I have added a paragraph at the end explaining my three year time limit.]

For quite a few years my lovely wife has refused to believe any economic data from the U.S. government. Until recently, I have been a staunch defender of the statisticians and economists who work in various branches of the government. The four I use most often are the Bureau of Economic Analysis (Commerce), the Bureau of Labor Statistics (Labor), the Treasury Department, and the Census Bureau (formerly in Commerce, stay tuned).

Much of the data supplied by these departments rely on Census to perform the actual survey work. Census has the tools for this and they have been in the survey business for a long time. Unfortunately, that also creates a single point of vulnerability. As far as anyone can tell, the Obama administration successfully exploited this vulnerability and produced false survey data. The falsification itself was not at all sophisticated. One or more Census employees simply made up numbers. John Crudele of the New York Post has covered this extensively. In yet another measure of how bad the “news” industry has become, Mr. Crudele remains almost entirely the sole source of this information.

U.S. Government Data Has Been Faked

I have reluctantly concluded that I cannot believe any numbers emanating from the U.S. government. The purpose of this article is to explain why I will not use U.S. government data for three more years. The exception is long-term historical data that is harder to fudge. I remain hopeful that the next occupant of the executive branch will restore integrity to the data.

I have compiled Mr. Crudele’s articles into a single 4.7 mb pdf file. Click here to download it. I have also compiled a list of headlines and links from the oldest (November 18) to the most recent as of today (December 16). I will update this post from time to time as Mr. Crudele provides more evidence.

Those who do not believe the Obama administration is corrupt should look at Mr. Crudele’s articles. Read carefully and keep an open mind. What’s in there is devastating. I am personally heartbroken speaking as someone who has used and relied on this data since 1971.

Why Three Years?

Why three years? That’s the end of the Obama administration, the same administration that moved control of the Census Bureau from the Department of Commerce to the White House. I did not intend to make any predictions about what is likely to happen after Mr. Obama leaves the White House. I will re-evaluate my position on this issue at that time.