tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5458209304128232367.post7647621816926318915..comments2023-11-02T08:44:12.524-07:00Comments on China Economics Blog: China statistics - to believe or not to believe?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08649345297844206449noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5458209304128232367.post-48786069884344307302009-01-28T02:54:00.000-08:002009-01-28T02:54:00.000-08:00I think you're being a bit harsh on China in this ...I think you're being a bit harsh on China in this respect. Not to say that Chinese statistics are leading the world in reliability or transparency, but put things in perspective: China is a developing country. Statistics are a luxury good. With China's budget constraints resources devoted to statistics will not be sufficient to produce world class statistics. China also lacks the human capital to achieve that even if the money was there.<BR/><BR/>You highlighted the part of the FT report that mentions China is (as of this quarter) the third largest economy in the world, as if this somehow implies they should have excellent data. The size of China's economy is due simply to the fact that 20% of the people in the world live in China.<BR/><BR/>And all that said, Chinese statistics are still useful. The precise figures are generally not as important as the trends anyway, and there's no reason to suspect that trends are adjusted in a major way, except some suspicion that business cycles are smoothed a little (although having looked at Chinese macro data, I doubt this plays a big role).<BR/><BR/>You can "distrust" Chinese data all you want, but they are a tool that is produced and is out there. If you can't find a use for that tool that's fine. Other people can and when they do so responsibly can yield useful insight.<BR/><BR/>Of course other people miss-use such tools and then miss inform their readers. Readers need to beware of all statistics.Dominic Meagherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01768810113009748347noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5458209304128232367.post-4753314080851065942009-01-24T15:19:00.000-08:002009-01-24T15:19:00.000-08:00You should know that there is such a controversy i...You should know that there is such a controversy in every country, and especially in the United States.<BR/><BR/>See www.shadowstats.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5458209304128232367.post-37609280886101315522009-01-23T04:11:00.000-08:002009-01-23T04:11:00.000-08:00I believe all statistics from China as what they a...I believe all statistics from China as what they are : Chinese statistics.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com