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  • 1.  Reorganization of Economic Statistical Agencies

    Posted 07-25-2018 15:45
    Dear All, 

    In case you are not aware, the Trump administration has proposed a reorganization of the economic statistical agencies that entails moving the Bureau of Labor Statistics from the Department of Labor to the Department of Commerce to provide for better coordination with the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Census Bureau: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Government-Reform-and-Reorg-Plan.pdf  (p. 6). The general timeline is a few years to provide ample time for working out the details. 

    The U.S. Chief Statistician, Nancy Potok, is asking for comments on this plan: US_Chief_Statistician@omb.eop.gov.

    The general reaction I've heard so far is generally supportive. At a COPAFS session earlier this month, former BLS Commissioner Erica Groshen and former Census director John Thompson provided their comments as co-chairs of the Friends of Labor Statistics.The advantages they cited include the following: more consistent and non-duplicative statistics; enhanced data sharing; efficiencies and synergies; stabilization of funding; and supporting the need for producing objective statistics. They also emphasized the following conditions for support: continuation of BLS independence mission, integrity and strengths, funding, and service to DOL and Congressional committees.They are expected to share a document elaborating on these points soon.   

    The description of this reorganization in the document runs three pages but I should not that it is deliberately lacking in the details so they can incorporate comments from the community going forward. 

    I would also appreciate hearing your thoughts on so please share your message with me. 

    Best Wishes,
    Steve


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    Steve Pierson
    Director of Science Policy
    American Statistical Association
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  • 2.  RE: Reorganization of Economic Statistical Agencies

    Posted 07-27-2018 16:25
    Steve,

    I'm struggling to understand how this is an issue the ASA should publicly comment on (or publicly ask for member comments)? Ron Wasserstein on 6/23/2017 identified 5 criteria the Board uses to determine whether the ASA should publicly comment on an issue or not. Can you identify for me specifically which item(s) in that list qualify your topic for public ASA comment? I don't see (re)organizing federal agencies as pertinent to our organization or the practice of statistics.



    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Reorganization of Economic Statistical Agencies

    Posted 07-30-2018 14:46
    This is a proposal to reorganize a federal statistical agency, for which the Chief Statistician of the United States has solicited feedback and the ASA is the main professional organization for statisticians in the United States. I struggle to see why you are struggling, apart from being contrarian.

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    Robert O''Brien
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Reorganization of Economic Statistical Agencies

    Posted 07-30-2018 14:50
    ​Terry, ASA is composed of many subcommunities with common interests.  For some of us, the quality of the statistics produced by our Federal Statistical Agencies is very important.  Reorganizations such as the one proposed offer potential benefits including in the longer term the potential to share data collected in surveys in order to reduce respondent burden and contain government costs.  It also poses some risks and I think it is only fitting for ASA to query the interested members.  There are many issues discussed on this forum that have no relevance for me, but I do not question that these issues should also be discussed.

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    Maurine Haver
    President
    Haver Analytics
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Reorganization of Economic Statistical Agencies

    Posted 07-31-2018 02:57
    This is an excellent news. I hope I will not chock you if I say that you
     have in US the best statitical agencies in the world, but one of the worst statistical system. Because of the very high number of agencies with a weak coordination. If you look at the two other decentralized systems (UK and France) you may see that these systems are built around a big office : in France for instance the main statistical office, INSEE, grouping the functions done in US by the Census. Bureau, the BLS and the BEA. The D G of INSEE is the French Chif Statistician.

    Jean- Louis Bodin

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    Jean-Louis Bodin
    INSEE (retired)
    ASA Fellow
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    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Reorganization of Economic Statistical Agencies

    Posted 07-31-2018 16:40
    I would not trust the motives of the current Administration. Even in ordinary times, Labor and Commerce may be seen to have different constituencies, organized labor and corporate management respectively. This could affect the types of studies that might be done. For instance, a statistics agency in Labor may wish to explore income and wealth inequality, while inside Commerce, an extensive study of inequality may be seen as not serving the interests of business. In Labor, there may be openness to study detrimental affects of intrusive electronic surveillance of employees, while in Commerce, communications with perceived  constituents among corporate leadership may only be interested in positive results of the same in terms of management goals; indeed there may be hostility to too open investigation of techniques for worker control and curtailment of personal freedom. While I do not have specific information on such differences, it would be politically naive to suppose that the pursuit of knowledge regardless of material focus would be equally applauded on all sides. Consider the prohibition, imposed by prevalence of advocates of unrestricted gun ownership (i,e, by opponents of "gun control"), on research into the health effects of firearms in our society. It could be, I submit for your consideration, that the duplication of statistical agencies may militate towards freer, less politically-hampered,  and more inclusive studies over all in which statistics are employed. Another factor is that different agencies, such as those focusing on labor and those focusing on commerce, may include different cultures or paradigms in viewing the purpose of the agencies, particularly at a level on which significant decisions are made. Efficiency and social equity and justice do not necessarily fall on the same measurement scale, and democratic process is not free of essential internal conflict (see the political analysis of Isaiah Berlin).

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    Andrew Tierman
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    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Reorganization of Economic Statistical Agencies

    Posted 08-10-2018 11:03
    Dear All, 

    In this morning's Wall Street Journal, former BLS Commissioner Erica Groshen & Former Census Director  Robert Groves provide a compelling case for why the move of BLS to Department of Commerce should be given serious consideration: https://www.wsj.com/articles/better-data-for-a-better-economy-1533855211. 

    If you'd like to learn more about this proposal, register for this September 7 webinar (1:30 pm EDT) being organized in part by the Association of Public Data Users and featuring Chief Statistician Nancy Potok, Erica Groshen, and Ken Poole: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/8154307378089623810. 

    Best,
    Steve


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    Steve Pierson
    Director of Science Policy
    American Statistical Association
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    Original Message


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