Martha Starr | Lightnews

Martha Starr @martha-starr.bsky.social · Sep 22

Not at all good for insulation of key economic policies & issues from short-run political considerations

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/22/u...

Supreme Court Allows Trump to Fire F.T.C. Commissioner

www.nytimes.com

Erica Groshen @ericagroshen.bsky.social · Aug 2

Am Econ Assn speaks out about firing the #BLS Commish.

"It is standard practice for statistical estimates to be revised as [better] data become available. These revisions reflect the commitment of statistical agencies to accuracy, transparency, and methodological rigor--not failure or bias."

COPAFS @copafs.bsky.social · Aug 2

AEA Statement on Dismissal of BLS Comm.

"The independence of the federal statistical agencies is essential to the proper functioning of a modern economy. Accurate, timely, and impartial statistics are the foundation upon which households, businesses, and policymakers make critical decisions."

Martha Starr @martha-starr.bsky.social · Mar 21

The lack of allies is sobering, but is this due to conflation of “higher education” with elite schools like Harvard, Columbia, and Yale? ~1% of undergrads at 4 yr institutions attend top 15 schools. Yes, they have outsized influence - but they’re not the ones educating tomorrow’s workforce.

Martha Starr @martha-starr.bsky.social · Mar 15

Important for all users of these data - speak up stat

Leya @leyamohsin.bsky.social · Mar 14

🚨red alert 🚨 for education researchers!

#edusky #econsky

AERA @aeraedresearch.bsky.social · Mar 14

AERA has just learned that all restricted-use NCES data licenses will be cancelled, possibly as early as March 20. We urgently request that all AERA members and others in the research community with restricted-use licenses take these two actions: www.aera.net/Research-Pol...

Leya @leyamohsin.bsky.social · Mar 14

🚨red alert 🚨 for education researchers!

#edusky #econsky

AERA @aeraedresearch.bsky.social · Mar 14

AERA has just learned that all restricted-use NCES data licenses will be cancelled, possibly as early as March 20. We urgently request that all AERA members and others in the research community with restricted-use licenses take these two actions: www.aera.net/Research-Pol...

Martha Starr @martha-starr.bsky.social · Mar 11

More wise words from the Commish on risks to econ stats

Erica Groshen @ericagroshen.bsky.social · Mar 9

I did a lot of worrying out loud about the #statisticalsystem in this NPR interview.

#econsky #jobsday #inflation @amstatnews.bsky.social #data #jobs #gdp #prices

www.npr.org/2025/03/08/n...

Regular reporting of economic data could be at risk with federal job cuts

Jobs. Prices. GDP. The federal government keeps close tabs on these and other economic indicators. And decision-makers depend on those numbers to be reliable. But that could be a challenge, given sta...

www.npr.org

Erica Groshen @ericagroshen.bsky.social · Mar 9

I did a lot of worrying out loud about the #statisticalsystem in this NPR interview.

#econsky #jobsday #inflation @amstatnews.bsky.social #data #jobs #gdp #prices

www.npr.org/2025/03/08/n...

Regular reporting of economic data could be at risk with federal job cuts

Jobs. Prices. GDP. The federal government keeps close tabs on these and other economic indicators. And decision-makers depend on those numbers to be reliable. But that could be a challenge, given sta...

www.npr.org

Scott Gottlieb, MD @scottgottliebmd.bsky.social · Mar 7

Measles outbreak in the U.S. continues to expand with 39 new cases in Texas (198 total) and 20 new cases in New Mexico (30 total)
h/t BNO News

Martha Starr @martha-starr.bsky.social · Mar 7

Check it out:

Elon Musk’s net worth on Inauguration Day: $449b. 45 days into Trump 2.0: $330b. (source: Bloomberg Billionaires Index).

Martha Starr @martha-starr.bsky.social · Mar 7

@lang-econ.bsky.social

Stephen Nuñez @socio-steve.bsky.social · Mar 5

I wrote a short blog post about the tragedy currently unfolding in the evaluation industry. Trump is destroying vital research capacity and decades of instructional knowledge for pocket change. 1/x

rooseveltinstitute.org/blog/the-irr...

The Irreparable Damage Being Done to Federal Policy Research and Evaluation - Roosevelt Institute

Though their goals obviously differed, Republican and Democratic administrations have for decades relied on the work of social scientists both within and outside the government to conduct research on ...

rooseveltinstitute.org

Martha Starr @martha-starr.bsky.social · Mar 5

Shocking Senator Warner. Would we “celebrate” a mass murderer if they helped an older person across the street ?

Erica Groshen @ericagroshen.bsky.social · Mar 5

RIP #FESAC
The Fed. Economic #Statistics Advisory Committee has been axed by the Commerce Sec. Since 2000, FESAC’s unpaid top academic & private experts have advised #Census, #BLS & #BEA on their key #economicindicators.
Why: "mission fulfilled" HUH?
#inflation #GDP #jobs #econsky #productivity

Martha Starr @martha-starr.bsky.social · Mar 5

… celebrate …?!

Martha Starr @martha-starr.bsky.social · Mar 2

Hmm

Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · Mar 2

So all NIH websites appear to be down.

Kimberly Clausing @kclausing.bsky.social · Mar 1

(4/4) For more on principles for tax policy in the coming tax debate, including avoiding gimmicks (principle #8!) see my recent piece from @piie.com

www.piie.com/publications...

Eight principles for the 2025 tax policy debate (that Republicans and Democrats should be able to agree on)

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which Congress passed in 2017, came with a built-in policy time bomb—several of the more popular provisions are set to expire on the last day of 2025. These tax cut expirati...

www.piie.com

Martha Starr @martha-starr.bsky.social · Feb 23

It’s mostly not Frances Oldham Kelsey level contributions, but it tried to help illuminate all the ways in which our lives are better because of the hard work people in public service do

www.fda.gov/about-fda/fd...

Frances O. Kelsey

Women pioneers at FDA

www.fda.gov

Martha Starr @martha-starr.bsky.social · Feb 23

Last year Michael Lewis spearheaded an effort to call attention to the unsung contributions of the federal work force

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/int...

Opinion | Directions to a journalistic gold mine

Michael Lewis on the “Who is government?” Post Opinions series.

www.washingtonpost.com

Martha Starr @martha-starr.bsky.social · Feb 23

This is shocking

Martha Starr @martha-starr.bsky.social · Feb 20

Important! They’re ISO knowledgeable volunteers to help archive YRBS, ATUS, and YRBSS

Katherine Pearson @kpear.bsky.social · Feb 20

DataLumos is doing invaluable work to preserve government data resources. What can you do? The team is looking for volunteers to assist with metadata and donations to support the costs of data rescue. Details at isr.umich.edu/giving/suppo...

Help us protect at-risk data. Your contributions today shapes tomorrow.

Martha Starr @martha-starr.bsky.social · Feb 20

Excellent reporting. Judge Bates has called DOGE a “Goldilocks entity: not an agency when it’s burdensome but an agency when it’s convenient.”

www.reuters.com/legal/judges...

Musk's DOGE team: Judges to consider barring it from US government systems

Two federal judges will consider on Friday whether Elon Musk's government cost-cutting team known as DOGE will have access to Treasury Department payment systems and potentially sensitive data at U.S. health, consumer protection and labor agencies.

www.reuters.com

Katherine Pearson @kpear.bsky.social · Feb 20

DataLumos is doing invaluable work to preserve government data resources. What can you do? The team is looking for volunteers to assist with metadata and donations to support the costs of data rescue. Details at isr.umich.edu/giving/suppo...

Martha Starr @martha-starr.bsky.social · Feb 19

This is extremely serious, as it removes provisions intended to stabilize policy in key areas across presidential administrations (antitrust, financial regulation, & communications) and assure bipartisan voice #BlueSky www.nytimes.com/2025/02/18/u...

Trump Signs Order Expanding Power Over Independent Agencies Like FCC and SEC (Gift Article)

The president has already challenged statutory protections against summarily firing officials overseeing such agencies without cause.

www.nytimes.com

Patrick Chovanec @prchovanec.bsky.social · Feb 19

That’s how you write a headline, people.

David Wessel @davidmwessel.bsky.social · Feb 18

Wendy Edelberg & Ben Harris of @brookings.edu: The risk of a fiscal crisis is higher than it was just four weeks ago. Not because federal borrowing is grinding ever higher, tho it is. Risk is that our political leaders will do something wildly irresponsible www.nytimes.com/2025/02/18/o... #econsky

Opinion | How Trump Could Get Us Into a Debt Crisis (Gift Article)

A blowup won’t be sparked by government spending but instead from political malpractice.

www.nytimes.com

Yana van der Meulen Rodgers @yanarodgers.bsky.social · Feb 17

The Federal Reserve is not as independent from the executive branch as we’d like to think. The NY Fed just cancelled this Thursday’s @aeacswep.bsky.social reception at #EEA2025 and withdrew from our summer fellowship program. Both support women and underrepresented groups in economics. #EconSky

Erica Groshen @ericagroshen.bsky.social · Feb 15

Want more & better #data? FILL OUT THIS FORM.
Your use examples & feedback will help #ASA assess the state of #federalstatistics, which will inform policymakers & arm advocates.

Calling all: novices to seasoned users!

gmu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

@econosky.bsky.social #econsky

Martha Starr @martha-starr.bsky.social · Feb 15

OH NO

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