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the_quark t1_j5768n1 wrote

Reply to comment by r2k-in-the-vortex in A study of lights at night suggests dictators lie about economic growth by im11btw

The worst part seems to be that their leadership is reading their own press releases.

It's the same thing that happened in the Soviet Union. You are given an aggressive target for your five-year-plan. You don't make it, but you fudge the numbers a little to make it look like you did.

Next five-year-plan, they give you an aggressive target from your new baseline (that you didn't actually achieve). There's no way you're making that without fudging, so you fudge away.

Never five-year-plan, they give you an aggressive target from your new baseline - which would itself be an aggressive target for you to achieve in five years.

Repeat this enough and the official numbers become completely unmoored from reality and literally no one knows what's going on.

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General_Chairarm t1_j57ye5i wrote

You can do a five year plan but you have to hold yourself accountable to the results that you get i instead of just forcing it over and over and over ad nauseam in the name of “progress”

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United_Target8942 t1_j597bxk wrote

The results were high economic growth though. I don't think the argument works here.

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