House and Senate appropriations committees have approved substantial fiscal year 2012 budget decreases for the U.S. Census Bureau, the agency responsible for producing data to guide the government economic and fiscal policy and business investments across a $14 trillion economy. Sadly, the committees fail to recognize that their cuts, by leading to less effective public and private sector decisions, are likely to cost the nation dearly in terms of economic activity and jobs, while saving the public well less than a dollar a person.
