Don’t lie to me, Argentina

[velik_m]

...
In 2010 we added a precautionary footnote to our statistical tables. From this week, we have decided to drop INDEC’s figures entirely. We are tired of being an unwilling party to what appears to be a deliberate attempt to deceive voters and swindle investors. For Argentine consumer-price data we will look instead to PriceStats, an inflation specialist, which produces figures for 19 countries that are published by State Street, a financial services firm. Had we switched to one of the provincial statistical offices still generating reliable figures, we fear it would have come under government pressure. One of the country’s best independent analysts made us a generous—and brave—offer of its data against legal advice and on condition that we conceal the source and lightly disguise the numbers. That might have generated confusion.

PriceStats is based in the United States, beyond the Argentine government’s reach. The oodles of online prices on which its index is based are tamper-proof. Argentina will no doubt say that it measures consumption by the rich rather than the poor, who may not shop online. But PriceStats’ methods are based on solid, peer-reviewed research and have proved an impressive match for (dependable) official figures in countries such as Brazil and Venezuela.
...

http://www.economist.com/node/21548242

Any comment on this from our resident Argentinians?

[ElNono]

Haven't been to ARG in a couple of years, and I'm currently sitting in a hotel room in San Antonio, TX, away from home, so I gotta be brief. The manipulation of the inflation index in Argentina is a well known fact that has been happening at least the past 5 years or so.

Perhaps an Argie can add more...

[Nbadan]

It's obviously Chavez's fault...