To those following the issue, the Washington Post still has not corrected the error in its reporting on Mexico's post NAFTA growth rate ("Mexican Deportee's U.S. Sojourn Illuminates Roots of Current Crisis," 4-17-06:A1). My April 18th post noted that the growth data reported in this article implied that Mexico had enjoyed an average GDP growth rate of 17.5 percent a year in the post-NAFTA era, which would be a world record. The IMF data show Mexico's growth rate at a weak 2.9 percent.
While the Post has taken a strong pro-NAFTA position on its editorial page, I wrote and continue to believe that this error was an honest mistake. The failure to correct this error after it has been called to their attention is harder to explain. (I also noted a similar error on growth in the Post's Sunday Outlook section, but we can give opinion writers more leeway.)
Since the Post will make an effort to correct misspelled names in wedding announcements, it is difficult to understand its refusal to correct a major error in a front page news article.
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