Data Infrastructure: America’s Foundation
The destruction of America’s data infrastructure is eliminating the credibility that has been the foundation of American global leadership—and without reliable information systems, recovery from mounting economic and democratic challenges becomes nearly impossible.
Markets Can’t Trust the Numbers
Walmart builds distribution centers based on Census Bureau population projections. JPMorgan Chase evaluates mortgage risk using Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data. Tesla plans manufacturing capacity with Department of Energy consumption forecasts. Every major business decision starts with federal data.
This information infrastructure has powered American economic leadership since World War II. While other nations struggled with unreliable statistics, American businesses made trillion-dollar decisions on data they could trust. International investors allocated capital based on American economic indicators. Global markets operated on the assumption that U.S. statistics were accurate and beyond political manipulation.
That foundation cracked on August 1, 2025.