The Federal Reserve announced on July 9, 2026 the creation of five external task forces designed to overhaul how the central bank gathers and interprets economic information. One group, focused on improving data quality and timeliness, will be co-led by former Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, Harvard economist Raj Chetty, and University of Chicago economist Kevin Murphy. New Fed Chair Kevin Warsh is signaling a shift away from lagging government statistics toward real-time private-sector data for monetary policy decisions. Walmart’s daily transactions provide granular visibility into consumer behavior and inflation that traditional quarterly government reports cannot match. Markets will watch for signs that these new data sources visibly influence the Federal Open Market Committee’s deliberations in the coming 12 to 18 months.
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