Inside the bittersweet “record” economic growth figures
Friday, June 03, 2022 | 1530 Views |
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Cynics of economic growth figures frequently cite the quote made famous by US literary legend Mark Twain: “'There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics”.
When Statistics Botswana recently announced that the local economy had expanded by 11.4% last year, the fastest growth since 1989, many cynics felt the data agency was either fiddling with the numbers or conveniently ignoring the troubles ordinary Batswana have been experiencing in recent years.
It is not uncommon in this part of the world for parents to actually punish their children when they show signs of depression associating it with issues of indiscipline, and as a result, the poor child will be lashed or given some kind of punishment. We have had many suicide cases in the country and sadly some of the cases included children and young adults. We need to start looking into issues of mental health with the seriousness it...