Federal Reserve officials have said countless times they take a “data-dependent approach” to their policy decisions, including their current conundrum of when to slash interest rates. But what if the data isn’t as dependable as it once was? That’s what appears to be happening — and it’s making central bankers’ jobs a lot harder. “We have to make decisions in real time,” Fed Governor Christopher Waller said late last year. “Whatever data is released, that’s the data I have to use. The problem with data is it gets revised.” That wouldn’t necessarily be so much of an issue if the revisions, which can come months after ... (full story)