2018-08 Government statistics

Ontario deficit at $15-billion, not previous government’s $6.7-billion forecast, say PCs
As I mentioned several times in class, you do not want the government to produce statistics which may put it in bad/good light. Here is an example. The previous Ontario government claimed deficit this year of $6.7 billion. The current government claims it is $15 billion. Of course the previous government wanted to show its finances in the best light. The current government wants to show it in the worst light. There are two reasons

• to show how bad the previous government was
• to be able to achieve rapid improvement and show how good it is

Note that what I wrote does not specify political parties. The same will likely happen when  the current ruling party loses an election.

The solution: independent statistical office.