Lest you thought the presidency was an all-consuming job, Donald Trump has found time to moonlight as a prolific social-media influencer. He churns out 4,149 words a week on Truth Social and X, nearly a newspaper op-ed every day. Our data correspondent notes that if he keeps it up, his total oeuvre as president will surpass Marcel Proust’s 1.3m-word “Remembrance of Things Past” in early 2028. Readers, though, might find themselves in search of lost time.

And economists have predicted five out of the last three recessions, as the joke goes. But while they are fallible, it’s better to have them than not. Yet governments in many rich countries are cutting back on producing the statistics economists rely on. That won’t make it any easier to see the next downturn coming.