First off – an apology for not posting a bit more regularly. It’s not that there aren’t any IQ Trainwrecks, it’s just that there have been so many recently we’ve been spoiled for choice for the ones to use and we haven’t had time to edit and compile them all.
However, one that jumped out of the headlines this morning is the news that Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs in the UK has shelved it’s home sales statistics report until September , “adding to concerns over the quality of official data which help inform interest rate policy at a time when the economy is teetering on the edge of recession” (according the the Irish Times).
Just what you need in a time of economic crisis – inaccurate and unreliable information to support planning or even measure how good or bad things are. According to the report:
City economists and even the Bank of England have been questioning the reliability of several official date series including trade, growth and retail sales.
Apparently, inconsistencies were found between statistics to published this month (August) and last month. According to the HMRC spokesperson quoted in the article:
“All months in the statistical series are affected, with the differences showing falls in some months and increases in others. We are working to understand the reason for these differences so that a reliable set of statistics can be produced.”
Interestingly, from an Information Quality perspective, one of the main groups that ‘consume’ this information don’t seem to be surprised by the existence of errors but rather by the fact that the report has been withdrawn.
The article highlights a possible root cause of error:
“The ONS, which is also replacing its main measure of wages because it was found it did not capture the true picture, relocated from London to Newport in Wales this year in a move to cut down on costs – leading to a large number of staff changes “
Why is this an IQ trainwreck?Absence of timely and reliable information about economic performance affects the ability of the government to plan and manage economic policy to manage the impacts of an economic down turn and avoid more serious difficulties for individuals.