THERE SHALL BE WORK
XHANTI PAYI: We need to talk about Stats SA
Statistical lags are problematic in a crisis, when agility is needed in decision-making — and up-to-date data is vital to that
01 October 2020 - 05:00
Economic analysts have fallen into the trap of sound bites. In a world of fast news, we are too often subjected to the unkind task of having to fend off media content producers asking for comment on this or that piece of news. The problem is giving insightful comment in the absence of reliable statistics.
Unlike most things that come from state institutions, official statistics in SA enjoy a reasonable amount of trust. However, more and more, there is cause for concern about Stats SA.
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