For too long politicians and experts have told us “noble lies”. Now we can’t believe anything they say

The latest revelations in this spirit concern Klaus Schwab, founder of the Davos conference and the subject of innumerable online conspiracy theories. It appears from reports today and previously in the Swiss press that he did allegedly conspire to misrepresent the UK’s ranking in international competitiveness leagues. The UK ought to have been fourth in the 2017/18 report, but Schwab apparently feared this would be interpreted as some kind of endorsement of the Brexit vote in the EU Referendum and is accused of having instructed his staff to make sure the UK did not rise – meaning the UK fell from 7th to 8th in the final report, with Schwab’s World Economic Forum warning that the Brexit vote would inevitably undermine UK competitiveness.

https://archive.is/WtMv4#selection-3305.0-3309.657

 

“When things get serious, you have to know how to lie.” – Juncker. Policymakers in multiple settings have taken this message to heart in recent years – consciously telling untruths in the service of a (their) perceived greater good.