Trump’s War on Data and Rise of the Pricing Bots | Everybody's Business

Donald Trump’s decision to fire the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Erika McEntarfer, apparently in retribution for a report that showed slower job growth, was without precedent in recent US history. This week on Everybody’s Business we explore why presidentsat least since Richard Nixon ()have left the BLS alone, and we hear from former BLS commissioner Erica Groshen on how exactly that data is collected.

According to Groshen, the recent downward revisions in the rate of job growth (which Trump alleged without any evidence was a political hatchet job) were business as usual. She explains that such revisions happen because it takes months for the more than 100,000 businesses the government surveys every month to respond. Some fill in their data electronically; some send it by email or even fax. While the BLS waits, it puts out an estimate; those estimates are often revised later on.

For the past few decades, this approach has been widely seen as a huge success. BLS data, which includes employment and inflation statistics, is relied on by researchers, economists and government policy planners—as well as by businesses. They use the data to help write budgets, plan hiring and set prices. Although Groshen optimistically contends that McEntarfer’s firing won’t immediately dent that perception, it comes amid budget cuts that have already limited the ability of BLS researchers to collect granular data and could lead to questions about reliability.

Also this week, we discuss the controversy around artificial intelligence pricing (), which has recently centered around the airline industry, widely seen as the undisputed leader in customer frustration. But the strategy is in fact coming for you on pretty much every type of good and service. We also debate the significance of the American Eagle “good jeans” controversy and ask how much consumers really think about culture wars when they buy dungarees. Finally: A counterintuitive approach to warding off one of America’s most feared predators.

A smart and fun chat show about all things business. Hosted by award-winning business and economics journalists Max Chafkin (author of The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley’s Pursuit of Power) and Stacey Vanek Smith (former co-host of NPR’s Planet Money and reporter for Marketplace), Everybody's Business is powered by the unparalleled sources and reporters who bring you Businessweek magazine’s headlines and the stories behind them. The show gives listeners a window into the discussions happening in boardrooms, Zooms and group chats in power centers around the world. From interpreting Fed meetings to the business of wolf cloning, each week Max, Stacey and their friends at Bloomberg Businessweek guide listeners through what really went on during the last week from Wall Street and Main Street. Because what’s happening with money and markets is everybody’s business.

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Trump’s War on Data and Rise of the Pricing Bots

Everybody's Business