July 21, 2010
That is what readers of the article on David Cameron, the new Prime Minister would be led to believe. After all, the piece told readers that the previous Labor government’s policies had turned:
“…Britain into one of the most heavily taxed, tightly regulated countries in the developed world, with government accounting for about half the work force and half of the economy.”
The NYT’s assertion is at odds with the data. In 2008 (the last year for which full data are available), according to the OECD, the share of government expenditures in GDP in the UK was 47.5%. This is slightly above the 45.6 percent average for the European countries in the OECD, but below the 52.7 percent share in France, the 50.1percent share in Belgium and the 48.7 percent share in Italy. In other words, the government share of the economy in the UK is somewhat above the average for wealthy European countries, but certainly not at the top in this category.
The article also told readers that government employment accounts “…for about half the work force.” According to the Office of National Statistics in the U.K., public employment accounts for 21.1 percent of total employment.
The article includes numerous other comments that only serve to express disapproval of the UK welfare state rather than provide information. For example, it describes the new government’s effort to “dismantle Britain’s sprawling bureaucracy.” No less information would be provided without the word “sprawling.”
At one point it reports on plans to establish: “…independent but publicly financed schools in which head teachers and their staff would be freed from the stifling oversight of local councils and the central education authorities.” The same information could be provided without the word “stifling.”
Clearly the New York Times supports the agenda of the new government, but expressions of support for a government or political party belong the editorial page, not the front page.
Comments