Article • Dean Baker’s Beat the Press
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That’s why the NYT didn’t feel any need to put the number in context for its readers when it told readers of a deal between the Christian Democrats and Social Democrats to form a coalition government. According to the article the agreement calls for spending up to 2.0 billion euros a year on infrastructure above current spending levels.
Since many readers may not have a good idea of the size of Germany’s economy it might have been helpful to tell readers that this spending is equivalent to 0.07 percent of GDP. It would be comparable to the United States increasing spending roughly $11 billion more a year on infrastructure.