The economic information without data is like reading the entrails of a goat. Reliable data is needed. However, there are those who create information using false or distorted data from alleged research services. In recent months, reactionary media outlets have been using reports from one of these establishments, the Juan de Mariana Institute. Outlets such as Vozpópuli, El Debate, The Objective, and Okdiario use these reports to sell a false reality. The Juan de Mariana is the source that these media use to claim that there are one million more unemployed people than officially registered, alleging a supposed, and false, alteration of official data. Carmen Obregón published on The Objective, a digital outlet that has been spreading an average of three hoaxes daily, that “Spain spends 45% more on public salaries than Germany” based on a report from the Juan de Mariana Institute.
The Juan de Mariana and these media outlets eliminate all public sector employment in the German health system from their calculations, despite it accounting for nearly half of public employment, as in any developed European country. The salaries of employees in the German public health system are funded by the state but are not counted as public employees. If you remove healthcare workers from the calculation in Spain as well, for example, the Community of Madrid would lose 47.55% of its employees. The news goes further to claim that Spain spends 49 billion euros more than Germany on public salaries. However, for that to be true, Spain would need over six million public employees, when in reality there are just over three and a half million. When the absurdity became evident, Obregón updated the piece but caused further confusion by changing the comparison to absolute figures rather than percentages.
Another establishment that spreads misleading information is the Institute of Economic Studies, the research service of the CEOE. For years, they have been releasing reports claiming that the tax burden has increased by three or four points at the beginning of January, regardless of the actual data. The IEE is supported by major companies in the country, which would benefit from a decrease in the tax burden, especially on their executives. These companies also contribute a significant portion of remaining advertising revenue to the media. The IEE claimed that the tax burden had risen to 42% of GDP in 2023, when in reality it had decreased from 38.6% to 38.3%. They have been spreading similar lies every year, such as predicting a tax burden of 42.5% for 2023 when it actually dropped to 38%.
If national data is hard to come by, emailing Eurostat’s press service can provide the necessary figures. According to European statistics, including healthcare workers, there were 4.88 million public employees in Germany and 3.25 million in Spain at the end of 2022, increasing to 5.2 million and 3.5 million, respectively, a year later. To claim that Spain could be spending 49 billion euros more annually on public salaries is either a severe error or a deliberate attempt to deceive readers. These institutions and media outlets manipulate data to create false narratives for their own agendas, leading to widespread misinformation being spread to the public. As consumers of information, it is important to be critical and verify the credibility of sources before accepting any claims as true.
