These two statements in William Keegan’s article in today’s Observer have prompted me to flesh out this idea: “it should never be forgotten that the coalition inherited a burgeoning economic recovery in the summer of 2010 and proceeded to bring it to a halt with its misguided programme of austerity” and “ I think I heard the prime minister come out yet again on the wireless the other day with that pre-Keynesian howler – much in vogue with the German economic establishment – that when the private sector cuts back, it makes sense for the public sector to cut back too. On the contrary, it does not make sense, and was the reverse of what was needed after the depression which followed the financial crash of 2008-09”. I’m fed up with politicians, clerics, lobbyists and other people with an axe to grind, brainwashing us with stuff that I suspect they do not fully understand, or that they are twisting to their own ends, or, worse still, that they are simply lying about. I’d like to see these points tested in the media by sending them to the Telegraph, Times/Sunday Times, Financial Times, Guardian/Observer, and The Independent, and asking them to research the following aspects: a) was the quote an accurate record of the statement? b) was any additional meaning imparted by the context in which the statement was made? c) what evidence did the person making the statement base it on? d) what are the findings of the research that has been done on the subject e) what experiments/empirical tests have been performed to validate each main set of findings? e) what is the broad consensus of the professionals in the field concerned regarding each of the main sets of findings?