‘We’ve put the blindfolds on’: Economist warns of dire economic path under Trump

Australian economist Justin Wolfers issued a dire warning Saturday on the direction of the economy under President Donald Trump, equating the administration’s freeze on releasing key economic data to steering a ship through fog wearing “blindfolds.”

“It becomes very hard to know how to steer the ship when you don't have a lot of data,” Wolfers said, appearing on MSNBC’s “Velshi.”

Lapses in the release of key economic data include the monthly jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which was withheld after Trump fired BLS Administrator Erika McEntarfer over a poor jobs report in August, and the monthly inflation report, the release of which has been postponed, likely until December at the earliest.

The Federal Reserve – responsible for setting interest rates – must manage Trump’s unpredictable policy decisions, Wolfers said, already a difficult task. But coupled with the lack of reliable and comprehensive economic data, he said, will only exacerbate the already precarious position of the U.S. economy.

“So already the job is hard, we're steering through fog at a critical moment; it could be that the economy's on the cusp of recession, it literally could be the economy's on the cusp of an AI-driven boom,” Wolfers said.

“Then, what we've done is we've put the blindfolds on [and] said 'no more data for you!' Our best numbers, the most reliable numbers are completely missing right at the point where we could be at a turning point.”

The Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates again next week based on inflation rising at a lower-than-expected rate. With several recession indicators “flashing bright red,” however, the Fed will essentially be “blindfolded” in how to best approach the coming months, Wolfers warned.

“The Fed is going to try to steer our economy through the fog, [and] there's extra fog because there's so much change,” Wolfers said. “Tariffs are on one day, they're off the next, fiscal policy is changing day to day, the president's changing his mind on just about every issue on any day that happens to end in a 'Y.'