Regret the Error » economist

Not a Muslim, but he makes fun of them*

Craig Silverman — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 13:00:27 +0000

In “Two mullahs went into a bar…” (November 26th) we cited Omid Djalili as a British Muslim comedian. He jokes about, among others, Muslims but is himself a Bahai. Sorry. Link

*Correction December 2, 2011: The orignal version of this post’s headline mistakenly used the word “be” instead of “but”. (“Not a Muslim, be he makes fun of them”) It has been corrected, and thanks to Roger Green for spotting the typo!

Imaginary vote

Craig Silverman — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 12:00:37 +0000

In our issue dated November 5th we said that the UN General Assembly had voted to admit Palestine as a full member of UNESCO, when in fact the General Assembly did not conduct any vote regarding Palestine’s membership of the cultural agency. Sorry. Link

Fuzzy numbers etc.

Craig Silverman — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 11:30:37 +0000

In our article on Europe’s bail-out plan (“No big bazooka”, October 29th 2011) we incorrectly said that Greece’s partners would have to lend €100 billion more than the €109 billion they promised in July. In fact they plan to lend €130 billion in total. Sorry. Link

Well, look at who’s got a red face now

Craig Silverman — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 13:30:48 +0000

In our “Parable of Detroit” (October 22nd), we were a little unfair to note that there were “an awful lot of white faces” at Tech Town. The business accelerator points out that 65% of its new clients this year are from minorities, and that it has recently set up a fund for women- and minority-owned businesses. Link

Thanks, Daniel!

The Economist is sorry times two

Craig Silverman — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 11:30:51 +0000

IN OUR briefing last week on women and the Arab awakening (“Now is the time”), we said that Rachid Ghannouchi, the leader of Tunisia’s Nahda party, opposes the country’s liberal code of individual rights, the Code of Personal Status, and its prohibition of polygamy. We also said that he has threatened to hang a prominent Tunisian feminist, Raja bin Salama, in Basij Square in Tunis, because she has called for the country’s new laws to be based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We accept that neither of these statements is true: Mr Ghannouchi has expressly said that he accepts the Code of Personal Status; and he never threatened to hang Ms bin Salama. We apologise to him unreservedly. Link

In our article on October 15th on the prisoner exchange between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group, Hamas, titled “Israel and Palestine: An extraordinary exchange rate”, we wrongly referred to Mustafa Barghouti as a prisoner unlikely to be freed, whereas we meant Marwan Barghouti, whom we also mentioned as a possible future Palestinian leader. We apologise sincerely to Mustafa Barghouti, a widely respected Palestinian politician and analyst, who is not in jail. Link

Thanks, Daniel!

All wrong

Craig Silverman — Mon, 23 May 2011 12:00:15 +0000

The pictured robot in our May 7th story on robots being used to deal with Japan’s nuclear disaster (“NukeBots”) was neither used in Japan nor a PackBot, as claimed in the caption. Our apologies. Link

India, Pakistan… whatever

Craig Silverman — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 13:00:20 +0000

The table in "War's overlooked victims" (January 13th) mistakenly blamed the Indian army, rather than Pakistani forces, for 200,000 rapes in 1971. We apologise. Link

A disconcerting trend

Craig Silverman — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 13:00:01 +0000

Schumpeter last week poked fun at a firm called "Trendwatchers" ("The status seekers", December 4th). The firm's real name is trendwatching.com. We're sorry. We hope this isn't the start of a new trend of incompetence on our part. Link

The injustice of washroom lineups will continue

Craig Silverman — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 12:00:46 +0000

Our article on sexual equality and toilet provision (“Flushing away unfairness,” July 10th) reported that a ruling under human-rights legislation in New Zealand had ensured that women need wait no more than three minutes to use a public lavatory. This is incorrect. Sorry. Link

Fuzzy numbers etc.

Craig Silverman — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:00:36 +0000

In our story on Brazil’s economy (“Joining in the carnival spirit, February 13th), we quoted economists at ItaÃº, a bank, as arguing that the government would have to strip out 496 billion reais, or half its total discretionary spending, to meet its fiscal-surplus target. In fact they said 49 billion reais and a quarter of its discretionary spending. Our apologies to them, and to the government. Link

Regret the links

Craig Silverman — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:00:28 +0000

In case you hadn’t noticed, I recently added a “What I’m Reading” sidebar to the site. It’s over there to the right. I link to relevant articles that I find interesting or of note. And now, every once in a while, I’ll post a round-up of some of those links to make sure you don’t miss out on them. They’re all worth checking out. Enjoy.

Press Accuracy Rating Hits Two-Decade Low – Pew Research Center
pewresearch.org | September 14, 2009
More bad news re: trust and accuracy.

DISPUTATIONS: Spy Games | The New Republic
The New Republic | September 16, 2009
Victor Navasky demands satisfaction from The New Republic.

FACTS, ERRORS AND THE KINDLE | More Intelligent Life
moreintelligentlife.com | September 4, 2009
I’m interviewed in this Economist story about book errors and corrections.

Accidental headline of the year | Media Monkey | Media | guardian.co.uk
Guardian | September 1, 2009

A horror story involving the correction of a published scientific article – Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social Science
stat.columbia.edu | August 25, 2009

Genital, not genetic

Craig Silverman — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 12:00:51 +0000

In our review of “Ruined”, Lynn Nottage’s play, “Political charge” (May 23rd), the phrase “violent genital mutilation” was written as “violent genetic mutilation”. Our apologies.

Sorry, doctors

Craig Silverman — Fri, 01 May 2009 12:00:01 +0000

We would like to apologise to the world’s pathologists for suggesting that the histological examination of excised tumours is carried out by “technicians”, as suggested last week in “Illuminating surgery”. The pathologists who perform this work are, of course, physicians who specialise in the examination of tissue samples. Link

Undented, not unrented

Craig Silverman — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 12:00:45 +0000

In last week’s article on South Africa (“Politics v the law”, April 4th) there was a typographical error in the penultimate sentence, in which an opinion poll is said to have found that “Jacob Zuma’s popularity is unrented, at least among blacks, who still seem to support him overwhelmingly.” “Unrented” should have been “undented”. Sorry Link

Henry Kravis didn’t buy a $28 million armchair

Craig Silverman — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 12:00:57 +0000

Our report on the Yves Saint Laurent sale, “Caveat venditor” (March 7th), suggested that Henry and Marie-JosÃ©e Kravis may have been the purchasers of an early 20th-century chair designed by Eileen Gray. Mr Kravis assures us that neither he nor anyone in his family bought the chair in question. Our apologies to all concerned. Link