Monday 8 October 2007

Don't stretch the numbers too far

Somtimes official figures are used for purposes for which they were not intended ... and somtimes they are stretched a bit thinly. Consider the following statement taken from a press release from a Business Park in Edinburgh ...

"We know that the value added by recycling in Yorkshire and Humberside [£76m GVA basic prices] is similar to the value added by fish farming in Scotland [£70m GVA basic prices]."

So!

And then they go on to show that the productivity of workers in their Business Park (as measured by GVA/employee) is higher than China's.

Figures OK ... Conclusion spurious!

(Note: GVA = Gross Value Added)

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