Marketplace All-in-One Economic statistics to start cutting out some smaller cities
Aug 11, 2025
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has quietly halted economic data collection in smaller cities, sparking concerns about the impact on inflation tracking and Social Security payments. A discussion with a Cornell professor sheds light on how this marginalizes communities like Buffalo and Lincoln. Meanwhile, a controversial agreement between chipmakers NVIDIA and AMD to pay 15% of their sales to the U.S. government from China raises intriguing questions about national security and the future of U.S.-China tech relations.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Chipmakers Give 15 Percent Cut
- NVIDIA and AMD will send 15 percent of revenues from China chip sales to the U.S. Treasury.
- The deals secured export licenses but raised constitutional and national-security concerns.
BLS Cuts Data Collection In Some Cities
- The BLS will stop gathering CPI and other data in Buffalo, Lincoln and Provo due to resource constraints.
- Russell Weaver warns the move removes regional representation and can distort inflation measures used for policy.
Cuts Also Affect Housing And Service Surveys
- Weaver notes cuts hit the CPI, the housing survey, and the commodity and services pricing survey.
- Losing these inputs reduces accuracy of regional inflation and housing cost measures.