I have worked in the Wall Street arena for over 30 years. As reported government data have become more manipulated and therefore unreliable, I have canceled most of my subscriptions to government publications, as the government data increasingly bear little or no resemblance to economic reality. I agree 100 percent with the conclusion of the May 3 editorial “Cooking the nation’s books”: “It’s not healthy for Americans to live in a fantasyland of statistics produced to keep incumbent parties in power.”

Many people on Wall Street, of course, also live in that same Fantasyland because the data manipulated to paint a rosier picture than reality provides serve to keep stock prices up. For too long, most media in this country have merely reported uncritically what the government says. In a free society, the press is supposed to be the watchdog, not the lapdog, of government. I am happy to see The Journal reporting the truth. Keep up the good work!

SUSAN BERGE

Burrillville