Why is it worth trying to explain economics better? Because the profession suffers from what Andy Haldane, former chief economist at the Bank of England, calls a “twin deficit”, of understanding and of trust.
In a UK survey in 2019, 40 per cent of respondents said it had become more difficult to understand economics when it comes to making informed decisions for voting in elections and referendums. Only 14 per cent said it had become easier.
An in-depth study in 2020 found that many members of the UK public didn’t understand concepts such as gross domestic product and disbelieved statistics like the unemployment rate.
LANGUAGE THAT MAKES NO SENSE TO THE LAYMAN
Part of this is a translation problem. Most economic concepts are not complicated, but they’re couched in a language that makes no sense to people who don’t speak it.
Economists keep saying the UK has a problem with rising economic “inactivity”, for example, but how many people know this group includes students and carers? If someone had called me inactive when I was on maternity leave, I would have thumped them.
“People who aren’t working or looking for work” would be a clunkier label but immeasurably clearer.
There was another example last week, when the same set of statistics led to the headline “UK wages rising at near record pace” from one news organisation and “Real-terms UK pay fell at fastest rates for 20 years” from another.
Neither are wrong. One focused on the cash increase, the other on pay after inflation was taken into account. But you can see why people might be confused.
Article source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/economics-statistics-economy-gdp-growth-understand-inflation-3230356