Why This Economist Says Government Economic Surveys Can’t Be Replaced

In this week's episode of WSJ’s Take On the Week, co-hosts Gunjan Banerji and Telis Demos talk about the bond market, the post-Labor Day volatility it experienced due to concerns over the Federal Reserve’s independence, investors piling into gold, and the U.S.’s potential loss of its tariff income stream after a decision by a Court of Appeals. Later in the show, Telis is joined by Dana M. Peterson, chief economist and leader of the Economy, Strategy & Finance Center at the Conference Board. They begin with the research group’s August consumer confidence index and whether its results mean we’re in "vibecession.” Then Peterson defends the importance of survey-based data and why revisions are necessary. And Telis asks: Could private data replace government data? This is WSJ’s Take On the Week where co-hosts Gunjan Banerji, lead writer for Live Markets, and Telis Demos, Heard on the Street’s banking and money columnist, cut through the noise and dive into markets, the economy and finance—the big trades, key players and business news ahead. Have an idea for a future guest or episode? How can we better help you take on the week? We’d love to hear from you. Email the show at takeontheweek@wsj.com . To watch the video version of this episode, visit our WSJ Podcasts YouTube channel or the video page of WSJ.com Further Reading Consumer-Confidence Survey Slips in August Government Data Is Under Fire, but It Makes the World Go ‘Round Consumer-Confidence Survey Improved in July Trump Advisers Consider Changes to How Government Collects Jobs Data Trump’s BLS Firing Tests Wall Street’s Reliance on Government Data For more coverage of the markets and your investments, head to WSJ.com , WSJ’s Heard on The Street Column , and WSJ’s Live Markets blog . Sign up for the WSJ's free Markets A.M. newsletter . Follow Gunjan Banerji here and Telis Demos here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices