Measuring the Economy May Not Be as Simple as 1, 2, 3
By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 29, 2005; A02

The Census Bureau tomorrow will release the latest statistics on poverty in the United States, the income level of an average household and the number of Americans still lacking health insurance.

Don't believe the numbers.

A growing chorus of experts and politicians is raising questions about the data that frame Americans' understanding of their nation's well-being. From poverty levels to health insurance, inflation to personal savings, widely accepted statistics are overstating some problems and understating others, miscounting people, and sending policymakers down blind alleys.

"We're getting at best an impressionistic sense of what's going on in the economy," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), who recently introduced legislation to establish an independent commission aimed at overhauling government economic statistics. "Major policy decisions are being made based on data that is inadequate to the task."