When the Data Is Bad, Just Lie

Bad jobs numbers? Just say they’re good. High inflation? Just claim it’s low. While the old adage “numbers don’t lie” may have a ring of truth, in reality, people lie a lot, and governments lie constantly—and they’re releasing the data that all the big decisions are supposed to be based on. 

For example, if people need three different jobs to house and feed their families, that’s clearly not good. But the government will paint it as a great thing by telling you that the jobs numbers are strong, failing to mention that the economy is actually so weak that people need multiple income streams just to survive. And in any event, the government can always issue downward revisions later. 

But by then, the market and low-attention span media have already absorbed and republished the official economic data.

Many now expect the Fed to cut rates because prior jobs numbers have been revealed to have grossly overestimated job creation. However, the inflation data has also been equally inaccurate. The labor market is much weaker, but inflation is also much stronger than the Fed claimed.

— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) August 5, 2025