People, businesses and organizations base their actions and decisions on data we get from the government. How reliable is that?
Two people question the data they see on a computer. (Illustration by News Decoder)
This article was produced exclusively for News Decoder’s global news service. It is through articles like this that News Decoder strives to provide context to complex global events and issues and teach global awareness through the lens of journalism. Learn how you can incorporate our resources and services into your classroom or educational program.
Imagine if you couldn’t trust whether the test results you get back from school were accurate or trust that your Revolut account showed the right balance.
We base so many decisions on data we get and trust. On a much larger scale, corporations and all kinds of important organizations base their actions and decisions on data the government collects and reports.
What happens if they can’t trust it?
In early 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump kicked off his second term by creating DOGE (or the Department of Government Efficiency). Seemingly at random, it eliminated one out of every 10 federal jobs.
Among the positions cut were people who collect and process important data. Whole government departments were eliminated. Others had to scale back.
Why we need data
In the process, important data disappeared. Some historical sets were scrubbed off federal sites on topics ranging from health, drug effectiveness, hunger, climate, job creation and inflation.
That means that elected officials and companies now lack the best and latest information on where to spend money to help people, open new stores or add more jobs.
Without being able to assess safety and risks for people, insurance companies might not cover certain drugs. Without data tracking inflation, elderly people living on Social Security and people working for corporations might not get the increases they need to keep up with rising costs.
The United States is the world’s largest economic power and it has traditionally gathered massive amounts of information on health and climate. Countries and private companies would be hard pressed to make up for the shortfall on U.S. data collection as it would require them to hire thousands of people.
Without that data, scientists worldwide cannot as effectively fight climate change and diseases.
Consuming information
David Fortunato, associate professor at the University of California San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy, said the typical person is an important consumer or relies on U.S. government data.
“We all directly consume weather reports — National Weather Service or NOAA data — when we make a trip to the beach,” Fortunato said. “It’s super important for the business of shipping and logistics.”
He also noted farmers use weather reports for planting and harvesting.
Fortunato said the three key things for quality data are the availability of the data, the labor power to gather the data and the unbiased nature of those gathering the data.
In some ways, the private sector is turning elsewhere for important data. Take the monthly jobs report, which has been important for people who invest in the stock market. It estimates how many jobs had been created in the previous month and is seen as a measure of the health of the overall economy.
Ignoring the numbers
Wall Street is relying more on higher quality and more detailed data from private human resources companies such as Indeed, Fortunato said. U.S. jobs data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics looks backward while the information from private companies are more current when it comes to the number of job listings and people hired.
“It’s more efficient for a trader to have a prospective view,” Fortunato said.
Given that the Dow Jones Industrial Average, a key measure of the stock market, and other key U.S. stock indices are flirting with record highs, is Wall Street largely ignoring any omissions in reduced U.S. data collection?
Keep in mind, the U.S. economic backdrop also includes a war in Iran, a U.S. tariffs war and a jump in fuel prices.
“Wall Street is ignoring a lot,” Fortunato said. “Traders don”t understand why the United States is so rich. We have property rights and the rule of law. Wall Street is not able to price in the degradation of law.”
Trustworthy data is essential for a fair democracy, so citizens can assess how elected officials are doing and if policies are working on issues including community health and safety, economic prosperity and providing a safety net for those in need.
Questions to consider:
1. What do you think is the most important data used to make decisions in your town and why?
2. What data do you look at to make decisions?
3. Choose any broad societal issue such as climate, crime, health, etc., and list three pieces of data you think are needed by elected officials to consider making a change.
Betty Wong was global managing editor of Reuters from 2008 to 2011, with 29 years of experience at the Wall Street Journal and Reuters. She covered white collar crime on Wall Street from Ivan Boesky to Michael Milken in the 1980s, led U.S. corporate news coverage from the dot-com bubble to rubble and was global equities editor for Reuters.