Home improvement stores feel the pinch

The Federal Reserve’s new chairman, Kevin Warsh, has signaled a shift toward relying more on private-sector data and less on traditional government statistics—a move that economist Kathryn Edwards argues is a serious mistake. On today’s Marketplace, host Kai Ryssdal spoke with Edwards about what gets lost when the Fed turns away from public data agencies like the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The episode also covered a new report on global energy demand from emerging economies, a slowdown in home improvement spending tied to high mortgage rates, a new AP course combining business and personal finance, and a Colorado mobile home park’s fight to become resident-owned.

The Fed’s data pivot and what it leaves out

Kevin Warsh, who took over as Fed chair, has made clear he is “not a data point dependent guy.” Instead, he has created task forces to explore using private-sector data. But Edwards, writing for Bloomberg, says this approach is ill-advised. The federal statistical agencies are already “under attack” in terms of funding and credibility, and many in the advocacy community had hoped the Fed would stand up for the data it relies on. Instead, Edwards argues, Warsh “swatted away” the necessity of maintaining robust public data collection.