Expert comment on the independent review of UK economic statistics and the ONS
Comment on the independent review of UK economic statistics and the ONS Ana Galvao, of Warwick Business School, is an associate professor of economic modelling and forecasting and associate editor of the International Journal of Forecasting.
Ana Galvao said:
“It is clear in the interim report that the distance to London reduces the communication links between the supplier of data statistics (ONS) and the main users (government departments and the Bank of England). However, there is no evidence in the interim report that the quality of GDP growth data has deteriorated since 2007.
“The report shows first and current estimates of GDP growth from 2008, but there is no evidence that the revisions during the 2008-2012 period are indeed larger than in the previous five years (2002-2007) or during the turbulent period in the beginning of the 1990s.
“The report includes only a very limited comparison of the size of UK GDP growth data revisions with other countries, and some comments are based on academic papers published almost 10 years ago. I hope to see a more extensive analysis of recent UK GDP data revisions in the final report by Sir Charlie Bean. They will be useful to understand the impact of the ONS relocation on the quality of UK GDP data.”
