Le Figaro just published an article that declared that France was the (Oh my God!) ninth economic power of the world.

And not the sixth, as all French people learn early on to ensure that the nation is proud of itself…

And so it goes. The Internet runs wild, social media goes crazy. Thank you, Hollande for ruining us! Our government is just nothing! Look where we are now!

Only thing is, as Libération rightly points out, there is no such a problem. France has not lost its position when it comes to GDP per capita rankings, she is still sixth – the dataset published by Le Figaro was based a GDP per capita on PPP (purchasing power parity). That’s quite another thing as “simple” GDP per capita, yes?

Ouch, indeed. Maybe should we teach people (and journalists) more statistical methodology and more economics.

Indeed.

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