No. 65 of 108

August 17, 2025

Fifteen days after a top labor statistician was fired, the White House issued a report touting a sharp decrease in immigrant labor and a sharp increase in native-born labor. Liberal, conservative and libertarian economists don’t agree with the assertion. “If there’s a sudden drop in immigration, or if fewer foreign-born residents respond to the survey, then, by design, the number of native-born workers would almost certainly go up.”“The way the calculation is set up, it’s not like you can lower the population of foreign-born workers without raising the population of native-born.” Economists agree that there are fewer immigrants in the workforce and fewer native-born workers due to less demand for all workers.

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This isn’t the first Administration that interpreted numbers to tell the story they are asserting. This isn’t the first set of economists or researchers who have disagreed. Usually there is exasperation, as in “why don’t they believe us?” What’s new is “the economists are lying.” Who are we to believe? No one. Take a look under the hood. Check to see if the wires are connected. Follow the trail. Test assertions. Root out sources. Ask about and look around to ascertain what’s happening in your region of the country. Maka‘ala – eyes wide open – and common sense-making.