I say this in the most macroeconomic and analytical way possible.

What is happening?

From American public media, this is Marketplace.

In London, place. In Los Angeles, I'm Kyle Rizzdahl.

It is Wednesday today, the 5th of March.

Good, as always, to have you along, everybody.

While there is, of course, a limit to what government economic data can tell you. The federal

statistical apparatus is the go-to for information on housing and the job market and inflation and

much, much more. Data that helps people understand where the economy is and where it might be

going and data that informs business decisions and helps policymakers

make policy.

I say all that because the Commerce Department has disbanded two groups that help make sure

the government's economic data paints a realistic picture of what is going on.

The Federal Economic Statistics Advisory Committee and the Bureau of Economic Analysis Advisory Committee have been around for decades.

Marketplace Caley Wells explains what happens now that they're gone.

Erica Groshen had no idea this was coming.

This came out of the blue, nothing up until I got the email yesterday.

And she was on one of the committees. The Economic Advisor at Cornell University, nothing up until I got the email yesterday.

And she was on one of the committees.

The Economic Advisor at Cornell University was told that the decades-old committee was getting disbanded because its purpose had been fulfilled.

You don't fulfill an ongoing mission by canceling this communication mechanism.

That mission, to get a bunch of experts at the top of their economic fields to help the government.

...