No, private data can't replace the BLS
Marketplace
American Public Media
4.6 • 8K Ratings
🗓️ 1 September 2025
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
As the Trump administration strips away federal data collection agencies' funding and pressures statisticians to produce positive reports, we might wonder whether private data can fill in the gaps. Unfortunately, while statistics reported by the private sector have a place in our economic understanding, they're not necessarily comprehensive, transparent, or free. Also in this episode: EVs see record sales ahead of tax credit end date, Chinese AI firms meet at a conference in Shanghai, and regional Feds give tariff uncertainty updates.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The clock is ticking on federally subsidized EVs, and dealers are seizing the moment. |
| 0:08.5 | From American public media, this is Marketplace. |
| 0:16.0 | In Denver, I'm Amy Scott in for Kai Risdahl. It's Monday, September 1st. Good to have you with us on this Labor Day. |
| 0:27.7 | As I'm sure you've been reminded by an ad or 10, the holiday weekend is a big time for promotions. |
| 0:35.2 | And for some car dealerships, Congress has effectively created an urgent buy-now |
| 0:40.9 | while supplies last sales event for the next month. They did it, of course, by killing federal |
| 0:46.7 | electric vehicle tax credits in the GOP tax and spending law passed in early July. Those credits |
| 0:53.1 | take thousands of dollars off the purchase price of |
| 0:56.1 | new and used EVs, and they now expire September 30th. That has led to a surge in EVs sales, |
| 1:04.1 | at least for now, as Marketplace's Henry E. P. reports. As soon as President Trump signed the law |
| 1:09.7 | that set an end date for EV tax credits, |
| 1:12.4 | Jesse Lour, who runs a used car dealership in New Hampshire, started stocking up. |
| 1:16.9 | We immediately went to the wholesale market and bought as many vehicles that could qualify as |
| 1:20.4 | possible. Lour's dealership only sells used EVs. The sales rush started at his lot in mid-July |
| 1:26.6 | and hasn't let up. |
| 1:27.9 | Our sales have been over 40% over last year. |
| 1:33.5 | We have had people literally fighting over some of these vehicles to get them in time for the tax credit. |
| 1:41.9 | For certain used EVs, that tax credit is up to $4,000. |
| 1:45.8 | For new ones, it's almost double that. |
| 1:48.3 | But those deals go away in less than 30 days. |
| 1:51.5 | It's a perfect storm of creating the sense of urgency that is really resonating with |
| 1:55.4 | consumers that are thinking about buying an EV. |
... |
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