Letter from Michael Strain and Phillip Swagel in support of BLS

Michael Strain, John G. Searle Scholar and director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute* and Phillip Swagel, Professor at the University of Maryland and visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute* wrote to the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services in support of increased funding for BLS.

From their letter:

Statistics are an essential part of government; they form the backbone of effective policymaking. Congress needs to know what is happening in the economy to design policies. Providing inadequate resources for the Bureau of Labor Statistics is like asking people to drive a car at night while putting on darker and darker sunglasses.

Adequate resources for the BLS would allow the agency to stabilize and modernize existing programs, which will benefit Congress, other policymakers such as the Federal Reserve, and American businesses and households, and would allow the BLS to meet the challenges to come.

Read their full letter here.

* Affiliations listed for identification purposes only. AEI does not hold institutional positions on any policy issues.