MARTIN BERTRAND/Hans Lucas/AFP through Getty Pictures
MARTIN BERTRAND/Hans Lucas/AFP through Getty Pictures
After President Trump fired the top of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, economists and statisticians throughout the board had been horrified. As a result of the firing raises the spectre of potential manipulation – and it raises the fear that, sooner or later, the numbers will not be as reliable.
So: we checked out two nations which have some expertise with information manipulation. To ask what occurs when governments get tempted to cook dinner the books. And…as soon as they cook dinner the books… how arduous is it to UN-cook them?
It is two statistical historic cautionary tales. First, we find out how Argentina tried to masks its true inflation charge, and the way that effort backfired. Then, we hear concerning the troublesome means of cleansing up the post-cooked-book mess, in Greece.
For extra:
As we speak’s episode was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Jess Jiang. It was engineered by Jimmy Keeley with assist from Kwesi Lee. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Cash‘s govt producer.
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Music: Common Manufacturing Music – “Common Really feel,” “Faces By,” and “Flower Baby”