ITALY SAYS BRUSSELS MISREADS RECESSION DEPTH

Good laughs are difficult to come by these days until--that is, one opens the morning paper or clicks on the Internet.

There is probably not much Italy wouldn't do to get out of correcting its structural problems. 

Italy accuses the EU of using "shaky" methodology when figuring out countries' fiscal policies. Now if their is a country on the planet that knows more about using shaky fiscal methodologies, it's got to be Italy.

Well, on second thought it might be a toss-up between them and France. But the point is made. 

We don't doubt Brussels bureaucrats brush the numbers a bit. But many of the tactics they use they most likely learned from the Italians. 

Italy's Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan in a recent Times interview was quoted as saying: "The EUs measure of output gaps--or the amount by which a country's gross domestic product falls short of its potential--was outdated and underestimated the depth of the recession that followed the financial crisis." 

The size of output gap is important because it's a metric the EU uses to calculate structural budget deficits. The greater the gap, the greater the room the EU gives to a country over its fiscal matters.

Get ready. Here comes the punch line.

The EU's measure of the Italian output gap is 3.5 per cent of GDP. Mr. Padoan noted that this figure was significantly lower than the equivalent from the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development, of which he has been chief economist. The Paris-based body had estimated Italy's output gap to be 5.1 per cent this year, with new and possibly higher projections due next week.

Mr. Padoan added that if the latter number were  used, "Italy  would be in structural surplus now and....for a long time. We would be in a different world, no requests for additional resources. we would have to do nothing. It would change a lot.

This should really be called job security for stand up comedians. They need not worry. If only bureaucrats and politicians could tell the truth for once we wouldn't need stand up comedians.