Not just to report reliable data to the public, but how that data is consumed by businesses and local and state governments.
The UE and GDP data is baked into action plans for governments at all levels. When unemployment hits a certain rate, certain spending is activated in some states, local governments shift spending or cut back or increase spending. These local and state government control vast funds that are invested in different ways based on the economic data. And corporations have all sorts of contingency plans for investing, spending, or cutting back based on key economic indicators. the reach of the BLS data is immense, it effects a million little decisions you don't think about.
At a more macro level, when UE is high, there's sometimes more help for the jobless. When GDP is low, there's sometimes more help for business. When inflation is high, there are programs to control costs that are activated. I knew it was a very bad sign when the GOP began attacking this data non stop, they want to shape all of these decisions, not the BLS. And that type of interference spells doom as the more you distort reality, the worse the impact on the economy.
If Trump is able to corrupt the BLS, we are going to head into a depression. And with the Conservative stranglehold on the corporate media, I am not sure if people will even acknowledge it. I mean, my word, could you imagine the wall to wall coverage if these numbers were coming in under Joe Biden? It would be 24 hour coverage of the impending economic collapse if Biden was still in office. There would be a chorus of calls for him to step down before it's too late.
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