What are Fake Statistics?
Let’s look at an example.
Take a look at this chart presented by a mainstream media source. It appears to illustrate that the Trans-Pacific Partnership is expected to result in a significant increase in exports by 2030 compared to exports without the partnership. But take a closer look at the y-axis and the vertical distance between the estimated exports with and without TPP. The estimated difference is $357 billion; compare this vertical distance to the y-axis. If you were to redraw the without TPP line keeping in mind the scale of the y-axis, you would see that the the original chart grossly exaggerates the growth in exports expected by the TPP. The chart does not present any wrong data per se. But that is not sufficient. What matters is that the presentation of the data is misleading.
