Lone Candle

“President Trump’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics has drawn surprising opposition from conservative economists, and for good reason.

When Trump fired Erika McEntarfer, the former commissioner, he baselessly denounced her for publishing “rigged” job numbers to make him look bad. Her replacement, whom Trump capitalized as “Highly Respected Economist, Dr. E.J. Antoni,” would supposedly “ensure that the Numbers released are HONEST and ACCURATE.”

Don’t count on it.

Almost nobody bought Trump’s claim. Antoni has meager credentials and no relevant experience for leading an agency with over 2,000 employees, responsible for measuring all “labor market activity, working conditions, price changes and productivity in the U.S. economy.”

Antoni is just five years out of graduate school at Northern Illinois University. His only professional jobs have been with right-wing policy shops.

…

Economists from multiple conservative think tanks have weighed in against Antoni’s appointment, citing his inexperience and incompetence.

The American Enterprise Institute’s Stan Veuger warned that Antoni’s work “has frequently included elementary errors or nonsensical choices that all bias his findings in the same partisan direction.” His colleague Derek Scissors was even more dismissive, saying Antoni “writes drivel for political reasons.”

David Herbert, of the American Institute for Economic Research, called for the Senate to reject Antoni’s nomination, citing “his inability to understand basic economics.”

Likewise, Daniel DiMartino of the Manhattan Institute called Antoni “unqualified for the labor market data collection and analysis role” when he doesn’t know what he’s “talking about.” Jessica Riedl, another Manhattan Institute fellow, described Antoni’s publications as “probably the most error-filled of any think tank economist.”

Even the Wall Street Journal editorial board, ordinarily supportive of Trump’s nominees, was skeptical, noting that Antoni’s “commentary at Heritage has been highly partisan,” while the BLS job “demands nonpartisan professionalism.””

https://thehill.com/opinion/congress-blog/labor/5523873-trump-bls-nominee-opposed-economists/?tbref=hp