– China Lands Hard: Rail Volume Plunges, PMI Tumbles Into Contraction, Employment Worst Since Lehman (ZeroHedge, March 23, 2015):
Chinese rail freight collapses 9.1% YoY; China Manufacturing PMI tumbled back to a contractionary 49.2 – lowest in 11 months; and the Employment sub-index plunged to its lowest since Lehman … yeah but apart from that, everything is awesome. And for those excited about just how disastrous Chinese data is (and thus how huge the next stimulus unleashing will be), think again – China now sees exactly where the last trillion dollar QE went… a de minimus and unsustained blip in the economy and liquidity-fueled rampage in stocks (which is not what a corruption-crackdown politburo wants to encourage).
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Even Bloomberg is covering a bit of this on their side crawlers……if China admits to any loss, the truth is far grimmer. China historically lies about everything to do with their finances; if they admit to 9% loss……it is closer to 30%.
Unemployment has been a huge problem in China. If a riot breaks out, as they do daily, the government shuts down the TV, and blacks out all information until the riot is under control…..little truth emerges from their media, but little comes out in ours, either…..China is just more forthright about their oppressive governing practices.
They have over a billion people………a percentage down affects many, and if their rail freight is down 9.2%, it affects many workers. The evil of statistics is how they hide the human condition under twisted figures……..and sound so damn convincing.
Years ago, in my public speaking days, I learned that statistics are the most convincing tool in debate, and can be twisted to say about anything the speaker desires. A good example is how the US has taken the world abandonment of the dollar. In 2010, 100% of world nations used the dollar to complete international trades. Thanks to the advent of electronic currencies, nations can now trade directly with each other using their own currencies, leaving the dollar out. The electronic currency translates the value of each nations money at the time of transaction, making the need for any world reserve currency obsolete.
The US dollar has enjoyed a lot of power due to its status as world reserve currency………..and it has slipped away over the past five years; 67% of world nations no longer use the dollar to complete international transactions……undercutting the power of the dollar dramatically.
So, the US now says 33% of world nations rely on the dollar in their international trading………..that is the power of statistics.