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Opinion

Arguments anchored in public facts, not hot air.

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Front view of the U.S. Census Bureau headquarters building in Suitland, Maryland

Opinion • Essay

A Country That Cannot Measure Itself Cannot Govern Itself

Public statistics are not bureaucratic garnish. They are the information infrastructure that lets a democratic state know its labor markets, neighborhoods, businesses, and population well enough to act without governing by mood.

By Ada Brooks • April 7, 2026 • 4:10 p.m. EDT