Official Statistics―A Plaything of Politics?: On the Interaction of Politics, Official Statistics, and Ethical Principles

Preface
Acknowledgements
Contents
Abbreviations
List of Figures
List of Tables
1 Introduction
1.1 Political Systems and Models
1.2 Statistics and Government Action
1.3 Official Statistics and Ethics
1.4 Today’s Challenges
2 Power and Morality
2.1 Of the Good and Bad in Politics
The Palazzo Pubblico in Siena
The Allegory of Good Government
The Allegory of Bad Government
The Fresco Cycle as a Key Work
The Fresco Cycle From Today’s Perspective
Beccafumi’s Frescoes
The Idea of Reason of State
2.2 Human Dignity and Human Rights
Human Dignity
Human Excellence and Human Misery
The Dignity of the Human Being as a Person
Human Rights
The Role of Natural Law
Liberty, Equality, Fraternity
3 On the History of Statistics and Policy-Making
3.1 Descriptive Statistics and State Studies
Censuses and Tax Estimates
Official Surveys
University Statistics
3.2 Political Arithmetic
John Graunt, William Petty, and Gregory King
Johann Peter Süßmilch
Lambert Adolphe Jacob Quetelet
3.3 Probability Theory and Mathematical Statistics
3.4 National Accounts
From the Beginnings in the 1930s to the Post-war Period
Germany from 1925 Until After the War
On the Economic Development in the German Democratic Republic
Official Statistics in the German Democratic Republic
The Architecture of an Integrated System
Reconciliation of Statistical Data
4 Ethical Norms for Statistical Work
4.1 On the Concept of Ethics
4.2 Business Ethics Schools of Thought
The Moral Philosophy of Adam Smith
The Normative Individualist Approach of Karl Homann
The Ethical Values Underlying the Social Market Economy
4.3 Ethical Principles in Official Statistics
The United Nations Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics
The European Statistics Code of Practice
Ten Basic Principles of Official Statistics in Germany
4.4 Professional Ethics of a Statistician
4.5 Quality Measurement of Statistical Data
Quality Management in Companies
Quality Concepts in Statistics
Approaches to Quality Management in Official Statistics
Quality Standards of Official Statistics in Germany
4.6 Statistics, the Public, and Politics
5 Censuses in the Soviet Union and Afterwards
5.1 The Abortive 1920 Census and the Attempts Thereafter
5.2 Josef Stalin, the 1937 Census and the Consequences
Inaccurate Projection of the Population
Propaganda and Preparatory Work
Preliminary Results
The Consequences
The Possibility of a Dignified Commemoration for the Victims of Bolshevism
5.3 The 2010 Census in Russia
5.4 Kazakhstan’s 2009 Census
Accusations Against the ARKS Leadership
A Kleptocratic Regime
6 Population Statistics and the Final Solution Under National Socialism
6.1 Perpetrators, Victims, and Bystanders
6.2 Official Statistics in the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich
Jews of Faith and the 1933 Census
The 1939 Census
Friedrich Burgdörfer
Roderich Plate
The 1939 Census Results
6.3 On the Question of Statistical Confidentiality
6.4 The Wannsee Conference
6.5 Statistics on the Implementation of the Final Solution
Richard Korherr and His Reports
The Fate of Cora Berliner
The Number of Jews Murdered
6.6 Government Policy Duties and Ethical Standards
7 Greece’s Reckoning with an Honourable Statistician
7.1 Greece’s Public Finances Before Joining the European Economic and Monetary Union
Government Finance Statistics of Greece
The EU Commission on Fiscal Statistics in Greece in 2004
Fake Data at the Beginning
The EU Commission on Fiscal Statistics in Greece in 2010
7.2 Esye and Elstat
The Search for a New Head of Elstat
Andreas V. Georgiou and the Board of Directors of Elstat
7.3 Elstat, Eurostat, and the IMF
Conspiracy Against the State
The Most Absurd Accusations
The IMF’s February 2017 Country Report on Greece
Eurostat’s Criticism of Greece’s Government Finance Statistics
7.4 Andreas V. Georgiou as a Person Legally Convicted in Greece
Reparation?
Reactions
Award and Acquittal
A Never-Ending Story
7.5 The Irony of Fate
7.6 The Far-Reaching Survival of an Old System
8 Digitalisation and a Pandemic Digitalisation
8.1 Digitalisation and Its History
8.2 Measuring Digitalisation
Capture of Digital Goods, Services, and Processes
Current Data on Digitalisation
Framework for Measurement of Digital Economy
8.3 Big Data
Data Science
I Am Measured, Therefore I Am
Between Politics and Business
8.4 Improving the Digitalisation Performance
8.5 The Corona Pandemic—Its Outbreak, Response, and Impact
The Outbreak of the Corona Virus
Vaccines Against the Corona Virus
Unvaccinated in the Pandemic
The Corona Virus and Its Impact on the Economy
8.6 Strategies Combating a Further Spread
Flatten the Curve
Real-Time Flu Tracking
Corona Virus and Digital Control
On the Self-determination of the Human Being
8.7 Corona and Citizens’ Distrust
The Corona Pandemic as a Threefold Crisis
Bureaucracy is Omnipotent in Germany
Misinformation and Disinformation
8.8 On Measuring the Pandemic
Infections and Hospitalisations
Measuring Excess Mortality
Mortality Data and Reported Data
8.9 Reliable Statistical Reporting on Corona
Pocking Around in the Data Fog
A System of Central Corona Registers
9 Globalisation and Official Statistics
9.1 Multinational Enterprise Groups
9.2 Value Chains and Smile Curves
9.3 Statistical Standards in Times of Globalisation
9.4 An Integrated Approach of the SNA
The Concept of Residency
Beneficial Owner and Beneficial Ownership
Intellectual Property
9.5 Improving the Existing Statistical System
The Reconciliation of Primary Statistics
The Principles of Border Crossing and of Transfer of Ownership
Closing Data Gaps
A Detailed Sector Breakdown
9.6 On the Development of New Statistical Concepts
The SNA Approach and the Corporate Group Approach
Large Cases Units, the EuroGroups Register, and Other Initiatives
On the Transfer Pricing of Multinational Enterprises
9.7 Special Purpose Entities and Supranational Aggregates
9.8 Globalisation in Retreat?
10 Ireland’s Miraculous Economic Growth
10.1 Just a Stroke of the Pen?
10.2 Methods of Tax Avoidance as Causes for the Revision
10.3 The Importance of Globalisation
The Irish Economy Today—Knowledge-Based, Open, and Multinational
The Long Leap of the Celtic Tiger—The Development Since the 1990s
The Crisis Years 2008 and 2009
10.4 On Ireland’s Economic Situation in Recent Years
Relocation of the Headquarters of Large Corporations to Ireland
Shifting Profits of Multinational Groups to Ireland via Transfer Pricing
Transfer of Intellectual Property
Good for Processing Abroad
Ireland’s Information and Communication Technology
The Activities of the Pharmaceutical Industry in Ireland
The Activities of Aircraft Leasing Companies
10.5 On the Assessment of Globalisation Trends
The GNI* Metric
Alternatives to GNI*
Sector Accounts for Ireland
10.6 Statistical Requirements
11 Happiness and Happiness Researchers
11.1 About the Happy Life
11.2 Happiness Research and Happiness Economics
11.3 Beyond GDP
The Human Development Index
Other Measures of Economic Welfare
The Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi Commission Report
The Report of the Enquete Commission in Germany
11.4 The OECD Better Life Index
11.5 Eurostat’s Set of Indicators on Quality of Life
11.6 New Measures of Welfare Under Test—But Which Ones?
11.7 Searching for a Consistent and Comprehensive Indicator System
12 National Egoism or International Cooperation
12.1 Political Challenges
12.2 Official Statistics and Political Culture
12.3 Goodhart’s Law
Argentina’s Problem with Price Statistics
The World Bank’s Reputation has Been Called into Question
India’s Grossly Overestimated Economic Growth
China’s High Growth as an Evergreen
12.4 Undermining the Independence of Official Statistics
The Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts
Two Chief Statisticians Resigned
Tanzania’s Move to Amend the Statistics Act
12.5 Statistics, National Egoism, and International Cooperation
Increased International Cooperation in Statistics
13 Worldview Statistics
13.1 Visualisation of Statistical Data
13.2 The Rich and the Poor
Unequal Distribution of National Income
Distribution of Income and Wealth
13.3 Population Development and Migration
Demographic Trends
Germany’s Natural Population Movement and Net Migration
Development of the Age Structure of the Population Worldwide
Germany as a Country of Immigration
Migration Losers and Winners
Migration Worldwide
Refugees and Asylum Seekers
13.4 Climate and Environment
Weather and Climate
Global Warming by Region
Germany and Climate Change
13.5 Environmental Economic Accounts Objectives and Structure
Economic Models on Climate Change and Climate Targets
An Emissions Trading System
13.6 Sustainability
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
On the Acceptance of Sustainability Goals
14 Conclusions
Bibliography