World Model · podcast knowledge graph

How Governments Manipulate Statistics Without Lying | Professor Is In

2026-09-10 · 19 min · 14 entities

episode page audio

Asserted relationships

  • → hosted by Justin Wolfers person
    0.55
    evidence rules-v5
    Feed author/publisher: Justin Wolfers
  • → discusses Education concept
    0.40
    evidence rules-v5
    Feed category: Education
  • → discusses Science concept
    0.40
    evidence rules-v5
    Feed category: Science
  • → discusses Social Sciences concept
    0.40
    evidence rules-v5
    Feed category: Social Sciences
  • → discusses Courses website
    0.40
    evidence rules-v5
    Feed category: Courses
  • → references Platypuseconomics website
    0.38
    evidence rules-v5
    Link in episode "How Governments Manipulate Statistics Without Lying | Professor Is In": https://youtube.com/platypuseconomics
  • → references newsletter.platypuseconomics.com website
    0.38
    evidence rules-v5
    Link in episode "How Governments Manipulate Statistics Without Lying | Professor Is In": https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.com/

Entities found in this episode

concepts 6

  • mentioned Education concept
    0.50
    evidence rules-v5
    Feed category: Education
  • mentioned Science concept
    0.50
    evidence rules-v5
    Feed category: Science
  • mentioned Social Sciences concept
    0.50
    evidence rules-v5
    Feed category: Social Sciences
  • discusses Education concept
    0.40
    evidence rules-v5
    Feed category: Education
  • discusses Science concept
    0.40
    evidence rules-v5
    Feed category: Science
  • discusses Social Sciences concept
    0.40
    evidence rules-v5
    Feed category: Social Sciences

websites 6

  • mentioned Courses website
    0.50
    evidence rules-v5
    Feed category: Courses
  • mentioned Platypuseconomics website
    0.45
    evidence rules-v5
    Link in episode "How Governments Manipulate Statistics Without Lying | Professor Is In": https://youtube.com/platypuseconomics
  • 0.45
    evidence rules-v5
    Link in episode "How Governments Manipulate Statistics Without Lying | Professor Is In": https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.com/
  • discusses Courses website
    0.40
    evidence rules-v5
    Feed category: Courses
  • references Platypuseconomics website
    0.38
    evidence rules-v5
    Link in episode "How Governments Manipulate Statistics Without Lying | Professor Is In": https://youtube.com/platypuseconomics
  • 0.38
    evidence rules-v5
    Link in episode "How Governments Manipulate Statistics Without Lying | Professor Is In": https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.com/

persons 2

  • mentioned Justin Wolfers person
    0.70
    evidence rules-v5
    Feed author/publisher: Justin Wolfers
  • hosted by Justin Wolfers person
    0.55
    evidence rules-v5
    Feed author/publisher: Justin Wolfers
Episode description as stored
Can you still trust the jobs numbers after Commerce dropped its ban on political interference? In August the Commerce Department quietly crossed out the rules that shielded official statistics from political meddling — meaning reports can now be delayed, buried, reworded, or stripped of their uncertainty. So can you still trust the numbers that shape your paycheck, your mortgage rate, and the price of your groceries? In this episode of The Professor Is In, Justin Wolfers answers the question a whole audience asked: in light of this, why should we believe the latest jobs numbers? Most useful of all, Justin hands you a rule of thumb for telling independent statistics from political claims — trust the official statistical agencies, be wary of anything from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and remember that someone who lied to you once will lie to you again. Chapters: 0:00 An expensive way to make propaganda 0:56 Can we still trust the jobs numbers? 1:56 Which agencies are actually at risk 2:50 Why the jobs data is still protected 3:50 How statistics really get manipulated 6:22 The one report that was a lie 9:11 The tin-pot dictator club 10:02 Why propaganda destroys data's value 13:12 A rule of thumb for reading statistics 15:39 Official agencies vs. 1600 Pennsylvania Ave Subscribe — it's one number you can trust to go up honestly: on YouTube 👉 https://www.youtube.com/platypuseconomics on Substack 👉 https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.com Follow on Social Media @PlatypusEconomics and @JustinWolfers