Or more accurately, for the people in those institutions that have failed us. In light of Trump’s firing of the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics because he didn’t like the jobs numbers, Commandante Atrios revisits some concern, from 2020, when Krugman mentioned, in passing, that Trump might have fudged the BLS numbers–it’s clear from Krugman’s comment that he didn’t think it was likely Trump fudged the numbers in 2020 (boldface mine):

Krugman was mostly kidding here, he was defending the BLS while acknowledging that Trump is Trump, and the reaction was, basically, that the BLS was INCORRUPTIBLE and that it was grossly irresponsible to suggest any other possibility.

…If I were working at the BLS right now, I’d be very corruptible. I’d say, “fuck it, I’m going to keep my job and retirement plan.” Sure, boss, +1 million jobs this month, every month, there are now more jobs than people. Whatever you say, boss.

I’d look at all the institutions that were caving – law firms, universities – and understand that no one was going to have my back, that all of those people – law school partners, university presidents, people much richer than me – were going to do just fine.

I’d understand that no one was going to reward me for a noble stance, and in fact those universities would probably blacklist me if I tried to move from BLS to an academic job. The University of Pennsylvania would not risk their Trump Treats to hire me….

A light breeze knocked over half the country in 6 months. Our institutions are not strong and it is wrong to expect more from the workers than the leaders!

In the specific case of the BLS, it seems harder to corrupt them, but not impossible (the way the data are gathered and analyzed, it’s not one person that makes the decision, but, of course, Trump could just fire all of them–or some of them to send a message).

Regarding the federal workforce, a fair number of the people who can afford to leave, either because they have options outside of government or because they don’t need the paycheck (near/past retirement or ‘have money’), have done so or are in the process of doing so. But government employees aren’t that well compensated, and things like retirement benefits really don’t become significant until you’ve hit twenty or thirty years. Given how healthcare works (or doesn’t work) in the U.S., that too is a strong incentive to not lose your job. There is a lot of pressure on workers who really don’t have that many options.

But all of this points to a larger failure that Atrios hints at: wealthy or very financially comfortable people have failed repeatedly. When this is all over–and hopefully, we’ll be around to see it–the leaders of those institutions that chose their institutions over their country need to suffer the consequences of their actions. Not as severe as those who instigated all this crap, which is to say Republicans.

But the university presidents, the board members, business leaders, managing partners, and others who decided to knuckle under to Trump should lose their positions as a condition of removing Trump’s agreements. Give them golden parachutes, if you must, but they can’t be trusted to lead their institutions.