Official figures
Speaking of shonky figures, the Castro regime has just announced that it expects the Cuban economy to grow by at least 10 per cent this year.
According to this breathless Reuters dispatch, the official Cuban media claim the predicted growth is being fuelled by “a jump in factory and farm output”.
For the record, the regime reported growth in 2006 of an amazing 12.5 per cent, placing the island’s economy then (and now) well ahead of the economies of places like China and India, for instance.
The catch? Well, the figures are based on what Reuters coyly describes as a “locally devised formula” that is supposed to take into account such valuables as “free” social services and “subsidised” goods and services.
In fact, not even the UN recognises this inventive formula.
Still, the yarn will get wall-to-wall, unquestioning coverage in much of the Western media, as you can see from this report. And this one ...
According to this breathless Reuters dispatch, the official Cuban media claim the predicted growth is being fuelled by “a jump in factory and farm output”.
For the record, the regime reported growth in 2006 of an amazing 12.5 per cent, placing the island’s economy then (and now) well ahead of the economies of places like China and India, for instance.
The catch? Well, the figures are based on what Reuters coyly describes as a “locally devised formula” that is supposed to take into account such valuables as “free” social services and “subsidised” goods and services.
In fact, not even the UN recognises this inventive formula.
Still, the yarn will get wall-to-wall, unquestioning coverage in much of the Western media, as you can see from this report. And this one ...
posted by Luis M Garcia at 10:51 am
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