Bill Beach is the former commissioner of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics and the current executive director of the Fiscal Lab on Capitol Hill. In Bill's first appearance on the show he discusses a career in and around public service, the important niche his new organization fills, the frightening fiscal outlook of the United States, exactly how long we have before Social Security runs out, why he believes it will take lots of small changes instead of a big one to fix our fiscal outlook, the important role of the BLS, why our statistical methods needs reform, the most underrated economic statistical indicators, and much more.

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Recorded on April 15th, 2026

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Timestamps

00:00:00 - Intro

00:01:25 - Bill's Career

00:10:11 - Fiscal Lab on Capitol Hill

00:17:23 - Fiscal Challenges of the United States

00:30:05 - Surveys from Bureau of Labor Statistics

00:43:12 - Challenges to Survey Work

00:52:13 - Outro