Propaganda or Illiteracy?

Here is a headline from a recent newletter: "Japan Recovery Stalls: GDP Growth Climbs to 0.3% q/q in Q3"

The headline contradicts itself by saying first that the recovery "stalls", and then that growth "climbs".

The newsletter goes on to say: "Japan's real GDP growth for Q3 2009 was revised down to 0.3% q/q from a preliminary estimate of 1.2% q/q."

So only after you read that sentence is it clear that the growth rate was not what it was estimated to be. Indeed, that the growth rate was actually less than the estimate.

Nothing happened to the real growth rate: it was what it was. The recovery neither resumed nor stalled.

What happened was that the earlier guess or estimate was wrong, and we now know what the real growth rate was: a measly 0.3%.

So was the newsletter indulging in propaganda or is it that its writers and editors are simply illiterate - or perhaps suffering from temporary linguistic amnesia?

I don't know. But it certainly isn't communication! Sphere: Related Content