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The Guardian (August 21)

2023/ 08/ 21 by jd in Global News

“A spate of recent statistics shows that the Chinese economy is faring poorly,” but the most worrying stat “is the one that we can’t see. The youth unemployment rate was suspended from the monthly economic data release, having reached a record 21.3% in June – suggesting not only that July was grimmer, but that improvement is not expected soon.”

 

The Times (September 14)

2021/ 09/ 15 by jd in Global News

“Only 0.5 per cent of Covid-19 deaths in the first six months of the year followed ‘breakthrough infections’ in fully vaccinated people, figures show…. The Office for National Statistics said only 256 out of 51,281 coronavirus deaths appeared to be true “breakthrough” infections, in which people tested positive at least a fortnight after their second dose.”

 

The Economist (September 7)

2019/ 09/ 09 by jd in Global News

Argentina’s reimposition of currency controls “confirms the horrible reality that Argentina has once again become a financial outcast.” Most are quick to blame the current president Mauricio Macri. “In fact much of the blame for Mr Macri’s failure lies with his populist predecessor, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who …. left behind a gaping budget deficit, artificially low utility prices, statistics that were brazenly manipulated and ruinously high public spending.”

 

Financial Times (April 16)

2019/ 04/ 18 by jd in Global News

“More than a third of Russians cannot afford to buy two pairs of shoes a year, and 12 per cent use an outdoor or communal toilet at home,” according to Russias statistics agency, Rosstat. These and other findings underscore “deepening economic gloom as tepid growth, five years of falling real incomes, high inflation, rising taxes and cuts to social handouts squeeze people.”

 

Cover (March 16)

2017/ 03/ 18 by jd in Global News

Disclosure of “how many claims are paid out is absolutely the right thing to do” in the insurance industry. “Paying claims is the only way our industry can prove its worth to its customers and advisers…. This is why publication is so important. Claims statistics give advisers the evidence to help them reassure clients who believe policies hardly ever pay out. Honesty and openness is the best policy.”

 

Bloomberg (October 31)

2016/ 11/ 02 by jd in Global News

“Of all of the scary economic data that routinely streams out of Japan, this statistic should terrify you: $800 million.” The “staggeringly small figure” is the total value of completed venture capital deals for Japan in 2015. Representing Japan’s risk-adverse culture, $800 million “explains a great deal about why the world’s third-largest economy continues to struggle, no matter how much cash the central bank pours into it. Too few Japanese are starting new companies.” In comparison, 2015 venture deals totaled “$72 billion in the U.S. and $49 billion in China. Even tiny Israel managed $2.6 billion in deals.”

 

Wall Street Journal (October 19)

2016/ 10/ 20 by jd in Global News

“China’s economic data are so consistent they’re hard to believe.” China’s 6.7% third-quarter growth was “perfectly in line with official targets and precisely as claimed in quarters one and two, a feat of consistency never before achieved. This is a reminder that China’s statistics remain fundamentally political.”

 

Washington Post (October 19)

2015/ 10/ 22 by jd in Global News

“Of all the sad statistics associated with U.S. gun violence, none is more pitiful than the single digits that represent the ages of little children who unintentionally shoot themselves or others after getting hold of a gun.” On average a child shoots someone (or himself) unintentionally once a week. “No count can capture the lasting emotional damage of these shootings, to those who shoot as well as, if they survive, those who are shot.”

 

Financial Times (May 29)

2014/ 05/ 30 by jd in Global News

Britain’s GDP is set to increase by £10 billion as the Office for National Statistics begins to include illegal drug sales and prostitution in its calculations. To move into alignment with EU standards many countries have already taken this step. Italy is also advancing plans to include “among other activities, the sale of cocaine and prostitution.” Estonia, Austria, Slovenia, Finland, Sweden and Norway have already added prostitution and illegal drugs to their GDP calculations.

 

Newsweek (July 30)Newsweek (July 30)

2010/ 08/ 01 by jd in Global News

China’s official quarterly statistics are assembled with breakneck speed. Provinces submit their records to the National Bureau of Statistics in just two weeks, approximately three times faster than the norm in developed countries. The figures usually come quite close to matching official targets because regional “officials have massive incentives to tell Beijing what it wants to hear as regards hitting central targets—whether it be breakneck growth or an engineered slowdown.” Over subsequent years, the statistics are typically revised as more accurate data become available. Yet inaccurate quarterly statistics diminish the capacity “to effectively govern such a vast country.”

China’s official quarterly statistics are assembled with breakneck speed. Provinces submit their records to the National Bureau of Statistics in just two weeks, approximately three times faster than the norm in developed countries. The figures usually come quite close to matching official targets because regional “officials have massive incentives to tell Beijing what it wants to hear as regards hitting central targets—whether it be breakneck growth or an engineered slowdown.” Over subsequent years, the statistics are typically revised as more accurate data become available. Yet inaccurate quarterly statistics diminish the capacity “to effectively govern such a vast country.”

 

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