Related Stories
Economist challenges government data
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)
Posted: May 30th, 2008
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/24/...
Oakland economist John Williams doesn't seem like the kind of guy to pick fights with the government. He's slow moving and soft spoken, conservative in politics and personal habits, a pale and portly 59-year-old who favors Oxford shirts, Rep ties and sensible shoes. Williams is the sort who pays his taxes on time, waits when the signal says "Don't Walk" and snaps to attention when the national anthem is played. But don't be fooled. The New Jersey native is leading a one-man crusade to expose official economic data as grossly misleading at best and, at worst, a pack of lies. His Shadow Government Statistics Web site (shadowstats.com) has become a magnet for those convinced that official data put a happy-talk gloss on the nation's economy. The growing popularity of the site ... is testimony to the deep suspicion many Americans harbor about government information as the economy falls into a swoon. By Williams' estimation, the government's calculation that unemployment was 5 percent in April and that inflation was 4 percent and economic growth 2 percent over the last year, is fantasy. It might even be disinformation. By his reckoning, the economy shrank 2.5 percent in the year that ended in March, unemployment is really 13 percent and year-over-year inflation is 7.5 percent. Government economic data are "out of touch with common experience. That's why people used to believe the numbers but no longer do," Williams said during an interview.
Note: For lots more on government corruption from major media sources, click here.
Related Stories
Latest News
Key News Articles from Years Past
