What happens when governments cook the books

After President Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, economists and statisticians across the board were horrified. Because the firing raises the spectre of potential manipulation – and it raises the worry that, in the future, the numbers won't be as trustworthy.

So: we looked at two countries that have some experience with data manipulation. To ask what happens when governments get tempted to cook the books. And...once they cook the books... how hard is it to UN-cook them?

It's two statistical historical cautionary tales. First, we learn how Argentina tried to mask its true inflation rate, and how that effort backfired. Then, we hear about the difficult process of cleaning up the post-cooked-book mess, in Greece.

For more:
- Canwe just change how we measure GDP?
- Theprice of lettuce in Brooklyn
- Whatreally goes on at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (Update)
- Canwe still trust the monthly jobs report? (Update)
- Howoffice politics could take down Europe
- Theamazing shrinking economy might stop shrinking

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