LDI Affiliate Erica Groshen recommends further harmonization, reorganization of Federal Statistical Agencies

Groshen, former head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, advocated legislative action to allow the Bureau, and other key statistical agencies to move toward a common data platform.

Groshen set out the benefits of diminishing hurdles between statistical agencies. Legislation sets different frames for sampling and categorization in federal statistical agency data. She recommends reforms to permit use of collected data in efficient ways, including implementing indices that capture the current economy in new ways and bring quality federal analysis to the public more quickly.  While legislative action on the statistical agencies has been on the presidential agenda for over a decade, there has been no change in the law governing relationships between statistical agencies. 

Speaking to AMSTATNews, Groshen’s comments appear with those of fellow former BLS commissioner Katherine Abraham, and Ken Poole, CEO of the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness. Groshen joined LDI in 2017.

Read the full interview at: https://magazine.amstat.org/blog/2021/12/01/workforceinfrastructure/