The 95% Rule, Bulgaria and the NYT

Recent reportage in the New York Times reminded me of my 95% Rule: "95% of what you read about economics and finance is either wrong or irrelevant". In her piece on the Bulgarian elections, Mariana Ionova wrote:

"Its [Bulgaria's] economy is growing at an annual rate of about 1.6 percent, but that is the slowest pace in the union, and about half the European average."

These alleged facts aren't even in the ballpark (see the accompanying chart). Bulgaria is neither the slowest growing economy in the European Union, nor is it growing at half the European average. In fact, Bulgaria is growing slightly faster than the European average.

Once again, the 95% Rule rules.

Steve Hanke is Professor of Applied Economics at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. In Bulgaria he is known as the "Father of the Currency Board", which saw Bulgaria's currency, the lev (BGN), pegged to the Deutsche Mark (DEM) and later to the euro (EUR).