Apparently, acording to the headline, the UK economy is “remarkable”. Rub your eyes and read on:
“Macroeconomic stability in the UK remains remarkable,” its report said.
But, it did warn that the Chancellor needs to rein in spending to stop budget deficits widening further…
It added that Mr Brown’s success in sticking to his golden rule – of borrowing only to invest during the economic cycle – depended on “a precise dating” of the cycle.
“The adjustments in the definition of the cycle have proved an unhelpful distraction from the more important considerations of what a sustainable fiscal policy is,” the IMF said.
In July, Mr Brown declared the current economic cycle began in 1997 rather than 1999 – a move some experts said was effectively moving the goalposts for his own rules.
They swooped on the change, accusing Mr Brown of “cheating” to avoid breaching another strand of the golden rule, namely on balancing the budget over the economic cycle.’
(emphasis added)
The right bar has:
The headline is contradicted by the article. Strange.
Bit like Arafat was “stable”.
I’m not quite sure what your problem with the article is exactly.
O/T:
BBC online says:
‘Intelligent design’ teaching ban
A US court rules against the teaching of a supreme being creating the world as an alternative idea to evolution.
Aunty cannot even use the word ‘god’ any more?
MisterMinit – the headline is misleading. It is a pretty crap job though, since the article itself contradicts the headline.
Aunty cannot even use the word ‘god’ any more?
Actually, she prefers the term “Allah.”
How can the headline possibly be misleading – the IMF has praised the UK economy and that is what the article and headline are about. They even put inverted commas around remarkable.
I love the blog btw
On second thoughts perhaps it is slightly misleading.
Its a crap headline!
Its like saying “Petrol prices at lowest in years” as the title.
Then having a graph in the story that shows its bloody rising above inflation.
“Remarkable macroeconomic stability” does not necessarily mean a “remarkable economy”.
So what headline would you suggest?
How about “IMF issues report on UK economy”?
O/T
In this Beeb report…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4547304.stm
…We read how two brothers-in-law have been convicted for their part in a £20m fraud.
Call it instinct, but I felt that BBC Online were holding something back.
Checking out how The Times covered this story…
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1948498,00.html
…We see that Dido Mayue-Belezika was an asylum-seeker.
Of the co-conspirators, the BBC says “Most have already been sentenced to between six months and three years in jail.”
The Times provides this information also, but adds that all “were citizens of Angola, Zaire, the Congo, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Zambia, or were born there.”
The Times also points out how these crimes were not victimless: “A widower from Tyne and Wear, for example, lost an insurance payout sent to him by the Prudential in Stirling, Scotland, after his wife’s death.”
The BBC meanwhile avoids mentioning this aspect of the case.
What’s wrong? What’s wrong is that the unreported bad news for the UK economy goes unreported while good news in Iraq and the USA never gets reported on the BBC. i.e.
Times Business “Brown’s borrowing hits record 9.3bn as vat receipts fall” – UK GDP 2006 = 1.75%. Iraq GDP 2006 = 5%. US New Orleans = Jobs Boom, firms offer 3,000 us dollar bonuses to workers, free housing and other benefits. Salaries in Nawlins have risen 30%, as many former residents are still on Carnival Cruise ships and 4 star hotels courtesy of Fema.