Pollyanna Creep

Pollyanna Creep is a phrase that originated with John Williams, a California-based economic analyst and statistician. [ [http://www.shadowstats.com/article/57] GOVERNMENT ECONOMIC REPORTS: THINGS YOU'VESUSPECTED BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK! A Series Authored by Walter J. "John" Williams] It describes the way the US Government and affiliated agencies have modified the way important economic measures are calculated with the purpose of giving a better impression of economic development. This is a clear reference, in a sarcastic way, to Pollyanna's proverbial optimism. John Williams and other economic annalists, such as Kevin P. Phillips [ [http://harpers.org/archive/2008/05/0082023] Numbers racket:Why the economy is worse than we know,BY Kevin P. Phillips in Harper's Magazine, May 2008] argue the such manipulations distort the perception of electors and economic actors and have ill effects on political and investment decisions.

United Kingdom

Concern about the manipulation of statistics also exists in the UK. For example, inflation in the price of certain essentials (such as food and fuel) is far higher than that of the published consumer price index. It should be noted, however, that the more reasonable answer to this seeming conundrum is that food and fuel make up a relatively small proportion of overall average household expenditure (about 10% for food consumed at home, 5% for home fuel, 5% for car fuel). This is because although these make up a larger proportion of expenditure in a typical week, inflation consumption weights account for all expenditure, even those large items purchased only infrequently (e.g. motor vehicles, furniture, electronics, clothes etc) but that when purchased are very large commitments. Prices of these goods have risen much less quickly or have, in some cases, fallen.

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