If You Pretend A Problem Doesn't Exist, It Goes Away

If You Pretend A Problem Doesn't Exist, It Goes Away. At least that's what the statisticians at China's National Bureau of Statistics seem to think. China is having a massive youth unemployment problem.

How massive? The previously reported unemployment rate for 16 to 24 year olds in urban areas was 21.3 percent. You might think that it's not so bad because they're so young and should probably be in school. But remember, these are youth who are looking for employment.

An easy solution to the problem

Today, the brilliant minds at the National Bureau of Statistics announced that they will no longer be providing the youth unemployment breakdown. Here's a news report: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/15/business/china-youth-unemployment.html

Can you imagine if the U.S. or any other major economy decided not to publish their inflation numbers because the numbers would reflect badly? It's really hard to have faith in such an economy or leadership. Very thin-skinned.

This is not an isolated incident. The FT have a good chart showing how the number of economic data releases have been decreasing since 2011. Sunlight is the best disinfectant and the best way to restore confidence is by showing that you have nothing to hide. I just wish politicians had the courage to trust the public.