Various GDP Data

The Economist believes that China's 6 % yoy GDP growth is not overstated, and that drops in electricity consumption and tax revenues can be explained by special effects. In particular, lower electricity use can be explained by a sharp drop in heavy industrial output. So why does Xinhua tell us that even the "six most energy-intensive industry sectors" increased production by 2.3 % yoy in Q1?

Singapore came out with a massive revision of its annualized Q1 GDP contraction from 19.7 % to 14.6 %, thereby reminding everybody that preliminary data cannot be trusted. The yoy drop was revised to "only" 10.1 %.

Taiwan's Q1 GDP declined even more than Singapore's: Down 10.2 % yoy. So the title "worst performance of all developed countries worldwide" probably goes to Taiwan.

Mexico's Q1 GDP also declined a massive 8.2 % from Q1 2008. Most important reasons for the drop were declining exports to the US, and lower remittances from Mexicans working in the US. Swine flu only started in April, so Q2 is likely to be even worse.