An Examination of the Statistical Discrepancy and Private Investment Expenditure

The statistical discrepancy is often used to gauge the reliability of national accounts data. Particularly since the mid-1980’s the statistical discrepancy in Australia has grown significantly in size and variance. In this paper we demonstrate that the overwhelming contribution to the size of the statistical discrepancy is mismeasurement of private investment expenditure. We demonstrate that this mismeasurement not only adds to the volatility of investment but may have a significant impact on the volatility of the business cycle in general.