Ron Paul speaking in Des Moines.
Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul says the federal government is “fudging” reports about unemployment, consumer spending and the country’s productivity.
Paul cites the recent federal report that unemployment had fallen below nine percent.
“If you go and look at some free market statistics measuring unemployment more like they did in the 1930s, it’s probably closer to 22 percent when you measure everybody who’s under-employed as well as those who have given up looking for work,” Paul says.
Paul has long been a critic of U.S. monetary policy and he warns the federal government has to stop its “guns and butter forever” philosophy.
“Governments aren’t always that straightforward,” Paul says. “…Sometimes they don’t tell us the truth whether it has to deal with foreign policy or domestic economic policy. Something the figures are fudged, there’s always a (political) spin and yet the people have to sort things out.”
Paul spoke earlier this afternoon in Des Moines to about 400 employees of the Principal Financial Group. Here’s the AUDIO of Paul’s appearance.