Monthly Archives: January 2017

Geldzug: LIES, DAMNED LIES, AND CHINESE STATISTICS

23 Jan, 2017 After achieving GDP growth of a scientifically-precise 6.7% in each the first three quarters of 2016, China recorded 6.8% in the December quarter, making 6.7% for the calendar year. This outcome was squarely in the middle of the official target range of 6.5% to 7.0% for GDP growth under the Thirteenth Five Year Plan (covering 2016 to 2020). There is a widely held opinion that Chinese statisticians work more magic than Harry Potter. Back in 2007, the current Premier Li Keqiang remarked that he avoided official statistics and preferred to look at underlying data such as electricity consumption [...]

2017-01-23T17:52:52+00:00January 23rd, 2017|

Geldzug: A PRESIDENT FOR “THE LITTLE GUY”

9 Jan, 2017 One of the many paradoxes of the Trump presidency is that, although he is one of the richest men ever to be elected president, he was elected by “the little guy”.  The opposite of being rich is being poor. Trump was not elected by poor people on average, but by poor areas of the USA. What do we mean by saying this? ...[read more]

2017-01-21T20:50:25+00:00January 21st, 2017|
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