Of course, to do c) well in terms of generating profit etc you want good understanding of the actual economy, and good official stats. But if you are just in the financial market for the casino / beauty contest and betting which way everyone else goes, they could just as well be random numbers.
@freerangestats.info sorry I misunderstood your post. You're exactly right. For a man like Dalio, it's no problem if the BLS numbers are unreliable. In fact, it's even beneficial for him. The more difficult it is for investors to assess the economy, the more likely they'll seek his advice.
it’s real money too. TIPS will be a mess if the WH starts manipulating the CPI. BLS does the employment and inflation data.
yes, I agree - but I see this as part of a) (technocratic decision-making with eg index-adjusted benefits) and then presumably b) (if things get too bad, people will start changing votes).