Why This Economist Says Government Economic Surveys Can’t Be Replaced

This week we’re bringing you an episode of our podcast WSJ’s Take On the Week, where co-hosts Gunjan Banerji, lead writer for Live Markets, and Telis Demos, Heard on the Street’s banking and money columnist, cut through the noise and dive into markets, the economy and finance. In this week's episode, Telis is joined by Dana M. Peterson, chief economist and leader of the Economy, Strategy & Finance Center at the Conference Board. They begin with the research group’s August consumer confidence index and whether its results mean we’re in "vibecession.” Then Peterson defends the importance of survey-based data and why revisions are necessary. And Telis asks: Could private data replace government data?

Check out WSJ’s Take On the Week.