Thursday 29 November 2018

A forecast or not a forecast: that is the question



Spot the contradictory reporting in BBC News at Ten's coverage of Mark Carney's dire no-deal warnings:
Clive Myrie, BBC newsreader: Good evening. The Bank of England is warning of an immediate economic crash if the UK leaves the European Union without a deal. The Bank's forecast is of a shock to growth more damaging than the financial crisis of 2008, with the economy shrinking by 8%. The Governor, Mark Carney, says interest rates would rise, house prices would fall, and unemployment would increase.  
Simon Jack, BBC Business Editor: Enter Brexit centrestage. A man with a warning. Leaving the EU without a deal could trigger an economic crash worse than the one that followed the financial crisis. [Clip of Mark Carney, saying, "We have constructed a worst case no deal, no transition Brexit scenario with a series of events including friction is at the border, difficulties at ports, sharp moves in financial markets would costs more for people and businesses to borrow, a series of events happening at the same time"]. Now this is not a prediction or a forecast, merely a possibility in the Bank's worst-case scenario  
Simon Jack, BBC Business EditorI can't stress this enough, Clive: These are not predictions or forecasts. These are just possibilities, lots of possibilities. Of all the possibilities you could look at, this is the worst. 
Evidently one BBC hand doesn't know what the other BBC hand is doing.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.