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Heather Long @byheatherlong.bsky.social · Apr 25

44% of Americans now believe they will be WORSE OFF financially in a year (due mainly to Trump's tariffs)

We've never seen anything like this before. Not even in the Great Recession or stagflation era (31% thought they would be worse off in 1 yr in early 1980)

via Uof Michigan Survey of Consumers

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Heather Long @byheatherlong.bsky.social · Mar 19

Fed Chair Powell key takeaways:

1) Recession risk "has moved up, but it’s not high."
2) Don't expect May rate cut. "We’re not going to be in any hurry to move"
3) "Uncertainty is remarkably high" he says over and over
4) Fed is watching big drop in sentiment, but "the hard data are pretty solid"

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Heather Long @byheatherlong.bsky.social · Mar 18

Big congrats to @kedseconomist.com on the launch of her great new podcast "Optimist Economy."

Kathryn doesn't just talk about problems; She puts forward ideas to solve them.

Her work is inspiring and I always leave w/new takeaways

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/o...

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Heather Long @byheatherlong.bsky.social · Mar 11

Must read from reporting today from @crampell.bsky.social & @ashendruk.com

How Trump is reshaping reality by hiding data

"The Trump administration is deleting taxpayer-funded data — information that Americans use to make sense of the world."

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/int...

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Heather Long @byheatherlong.bsky.social · Mar 10

NEWS: I'm excited to announce that I'll be interviewing Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Friday, April 4 at 11:25am alongside
James Nelson at the #SABEW25 conference.

There's much to discuss!

Join us at this great event for business and economic journalists, journalism students and PR professionals.

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Reposted by Heather Long

Dan Diamond @ddiamond.bsky.social · Feb 26

Elon Musk said DOGE made a mistake by cutting USAID’s Ebola prevention but it had been “restored.”

That’s not true, current and former officials told me and @johnphudson.bsky.social.

“There have been no efforts to ‘turn on’” Ebola prevention, said Nidhi Bouri, who oversaw team until January.

Musk claims DOGE ‘restored’ Ebola prevention effort. Officials disagree.

USAID’s initiatives to fight Ebola and other diseases have been gutted, current and former agency officials said.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Heather Long @byheatherlong.bsky.social · Feb 24

Most on this site know that federal workers are good people who work hard.

But it's striking to see the data.

Federal workers put in more hours a week than anyone except military and self-employed.

Federal workers take fewer days off than almost any others
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

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Heather Long @byheatherlong.bsky.social · Feb 21

Important post from one of former Gov. Cuomo’s victims.

Lindsey Boylan @lindseyboylan.bsky.social · Feb 21

TOP DEM POLLSTER: The more New Yorkers learn about the MONSTER that is ANDREW CUOMO the less they will accept him as their mayor.

So many of us New Yorkers are ready to show who he is.

An abuser. A liar. A crook who constantly helps himself at the expense of New Yorkers. t.co/REla7UwBrn

https://www.nydailynews.com/2025/02/21/reports-of-cuomos-rebirth-are-much-exaggerated/?share=bo2rycreetpaowtd5rrs

t.co

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Reposted by Heather Long

Jeff Stein @jeffstein.bsky.social · Feb 18

Lmao a Nobel Prize winner finds the solution to the global fertility collapse is for men to do the dishes and laundry more often -- more or less the precise opposite of the trad prescription

Fabulous @byheatherlong.bsky.social essay

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Opinion | A Nobel Prize winner decodes why people aren’t having kids

Economist Claudia Goldin finds it largely comes down to societal expectations of how much men should do at home.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Heather Long @byheatherlong.bsky.social · Feb 14

Take a look at this chart.
We've been experiencing what I call "whack-a-mole" inflation. There have been many eye-popping spikes (i.e. eggs). This has a deep psychological impact. They fear what will spike next.

This backdrop makes Trump's tariffs even worse
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

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Reposted by Heather Long

Aaron Sojourner @aaronsojourner.org · Oct 7

Former BLS commissioner Erica Groshen on how the policy change to Schedule F that Trump & #Project2025 advocate would destroy the credibility of the federal statistical system.

Her comment on LinkedIn
www.linkedin.com/posts/erica-...
...

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Heather Long @byheatherlong.bsky.social · Feb 12

You can really see the high monthly inflation gain in January (0.5%) on the bar chart. [Forecasts were for just a 0.3% gain]

Why?
-Gas prices up
-Energy/utility prices up
-Food prices (esp. groceries) up
-Transportation costs up
-Rent still rising (albeit much more slowly now)

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Heather Long @byheatherlong.bsky.social · Feb 12

JUST IN: Inflation ticked back up to 3% (y/y) in January --> the highest since June. The monthly gain was 0.5% (above expectations).

Rent made up 30% of the increase. Gas and food also contributed.

"Core CPI," which excludes food and gas, rose 3.3%. Core CPI has basically stalled since June.

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Heather Long @byheatherlong.bsky.social · Feb 7

It’s so short sighted, especially if the goal to get more parents to work.

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Heather Long @byheatherlong.bsky.social · Feb 5

Former Treasury official Natasha Sarin writes "there is no legitimate reason for [Elon Musk/DOGE] to have this access" to the federal payment system.

Sarin outlines just how scary this is

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Opinion | Elon Musk has your Social Security number. It’s as scary as it sounds.

There is no legitimate reason for the ‘DOGE’ to have access to the federal payment system.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Reposted by Heather Long

Lauren Bauer @laurenhlb.bsky.social · Feb 3

New and important: we built a federal expenditure tracker. All expenditure line items that are available on the Daily Treasury Statement.

USAID was zeroed out on 1/28 and has been at zero ever since.

www.hamiltonproject.org/data/trackin...

#EconSky

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Reposted by Heather Long

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · Jan 31

I'm keeping a running list of disappearing federal data in the 🧵 below. If there are others I missed let me know. crampell[at]washpost[dot]com or Signal username crampell.13

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · Jan 31

List of CDC information that appears to have been taken down so far:
1. CDC Atlas
2. CDC Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System
3. HRSA Target
4. Language removed for LGBT work
5. CDC Social Vulnerability Index

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Heather Long @byheatherlong.bsky.social · Jan 31

President Trump's trade war is here.

Trump said Friday there is nothing Canada, Mexico and China can do to stop it.

1) Tariffs will be enacted on Feb. 1
2) Tariffs on oil and gas by Feb. 18
3) Oil tariff could be 10%
4) He said there "absolutely" will be tariffs on Europe, too.

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Heather Long @byheatherlong.bsky.social · Jan 31

Full story from WaPo scoop king @jeffstein.bsky.social and colleagues
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Senior U.S. official to exit after rift with Musk allies over payment system

A top Treasury career staffer, David A. Lebryk, announced his retirement. Surrogates of Musk’s DOGE effort had sought access to sensitive payment systems.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Heather Long @byheatherlong.bsky.social · Jan 31

This is alarming: The highest career official at Treasury is leaving after a clash w/Elon Musk allies over access to sensitive payment systems.

Those payment systems distribute ~$6 trillion in US gov't payments.

Only a few people are supposed to have access to that payment system.

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Heather Long @byheatherlong.bsky.social · Jan 31

Just In: Progress on inflation is stalling.
PCE inflation was up 2.6% in 2024. PCE excluding food and energy was up 2.8%. Both metrics have risen slightly since the summer.

Now President Trump is about to add tariffs on Mexico and Canada that will almost certainly raise prices.

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Reposted by Heather Long

Joey Politano🏳️‍🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · Jan 31

Again, universal 25% tariffs on Canada & Mexico would hit ~$900B of US imports, ~30% of all goods brought into the country, including pretty devastating impacts on US energy, vehicle, & food supply chains

Prices for gas & groceries like tomatoes/beer/cabbages would jump

A graph of the top US imports from Mexico & Canada. Crude oil is number one at over 100B, followed by cars/light trucks, vehicle parts, freight trucks, and computers. Too by % includes live cattle, tomatoes, canola oil, particle board, cars light trucks

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Reposted by Heather Long

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · Jan 30

WAPO: “.. Just 24 hours before the collision of American Eagle Flight 5342 and an Army Black Hawk .. another jet trying to land there had to make a second approach after a helicopter appeared near its flight path, according to an audio recording ..”

www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

Live updates: Day before D.C. plane crash, another jet had to abort first landing at Reagan National

The American Airlines plane operating as American Eagle Flight 5342 collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Heather Long @byheatherlong.bsky.social · Jan 30

Wow. Look at the big surge in Americans buying "durable goods" in Q4 2024.

Was that people trying to get ahead of tariffs??

We heard many anecdotes about that happening, but it's striking to see a 12.1% surge in durable goods in Q4.

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Heather Long @byheatherlong.bsky.social · Jan 30

Here's the deeper dive on Q4 GDP growth:
US consumer spending is driving almost all the growth. Gov't is a very small contributor now.

Note: Biz investment was a drag on Q4 GDP (due to a big decline in equipment purchases). We want to see this pick up in 2025.

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