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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Economy & business fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about economy & business. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

7,095 published reviews in this topic

FACTLYEconomy & business

Current coal crisis artificial, done to privatise the electricity department – Newsclip related to privatising Chandigarh electricity department

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The post linked a news clip about companies interested in taking over Chandigarh’s electricity department to India’s then-current coal shortage, alleging the shortage was artificial and intended to advance privatisation. The review says the clip was not current: it reported on events from November 2020, whereas the post attached it to the later coal and power difficulties. To check the clip’s history, the review describes searching Google with relevant keywords and finding multiple reports from 2020 covering the same story. Those reports said Chandigarh’s administration had issued a tender to sell all of the electricity department’s stakes, and that nine companies, including firms associated with Adani and Tata, had expressed interest. This evidence places the clip in the context of a privatisation process, but does not establish that it concerned or explained the later coal shortage. The review separately describes several factors cited for the later shortage and power disruptions: recovery in economic activity, higher prices for international spot-market coal, financial difficulties in the electricity sector, and constraints on coal freight amid high passenger traffic on the railways. It also reports that coal secretary A. K. Jain characterized the problem as a mismatch between power demand and supply, citing increased demand, an early summer, and higher gas and imported-coal prices. The review’s conclusion is that the older Chandigarh clip does not substantiate the claim that the later shortage was manufactured to bring about privatisation.

FACTLYEconomy & business

Recent News clip – ‘banks have waived off loans amounting to 68 thousand crores of 50 wilful defaulters including fugitive Nirav and Mehul’

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The claim concerns a Hindi newspaper clip presented on social media as recent, with a headline saying banks had waived loans of about ₹68,000 crore owed by 50 wilful defaulters, including Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi. The review identifies the clip as old: it says it dates to April 2020 and reports that the underlying figures came from an RTI response about loans written off through 30 September 2019. The review also says the listed defaulters included firms belonging to Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and Vijay Mallya. The central distinction is between writing off a loan and waiving it. The review explains that a write-off removes a bad loan from a bank’s balance sheet but leaves the account in the bank’s books, with recovery still possible; a waiver cancels the debt for the borrower. It says the clip’s article itself referred to loans being written off, while its title described them as waived. That mismatch, rather than the existence of the reported write-offs, is the basis for the review’s conclusion. The amount in the review is Rs. 68,607 crore, and its account ties the list to an RTI response to activist Saket Gokhale. It further reports that the viral clip was one of several news reports on the subject at the time. Thus, the evidence supports that the clip referred to reported write-offs, but not that banks had cancelled those debts or that the clip was recent.

FACTLYEconomy & business

Warren Buffett earns 1500 crore dollars annually from his investments in Google’s shares

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The review examined the social-media claim that Warren Buffett earns 1,500 crore dollars annually from investments in Google shares, supposedly more than Google CEO Sundar Pichai earns. It reports that its internet search found coverage of Buffett regretting that he did not invest in Google early, rather than evidence that he made the claimed investment or income. The review’s conclusion is that there is no evidence he invested heavily in Google and earned that amount annually. To check the investment claim, the review cites a Markets Insider article saying Buffett considered investing in Google but decided against it, and says Berkshire Hathaway’s annual report did not list shares in Google or its parent company Alphabet. It also points to Buffett’s comments about getting late into technology investments in a CNBC video posted in 2017. The review adds that share ownership does not by itself guarantee income: dividends depend on a company’s board declaring them. It identifies no basis for the viral video’s 1,500-crore figure.

BuzzFeed JapanEconomy & business

ユニクロ柳井正・会長兼社長が「数学的に考えて給料を半分にする方が儲かる」と発言

Publisher’s rating: 誤り

The claim concerns a social-media post attributing to Tadashi Yanai, chairman and president of Fast Retailing, the argument that halving a worker’s pay would be more profitable. BuzzFeed Japan’s review says the quotation was not an actual statement by Yanai and traces it as a circulating internet copy-and-paste rather than an authenticated remark. The excerpt says Fast Retailing also denied the attribution as baseless and false. The investigation describes checking the quotation’s online history. Fast Retailing’s public-relations office said Yanai had never operated a personal social-media account. The review reports finding one of the earliest confirmed appearances in an April 2013 Twitter post, followed by a January 2014 2channel thread. Both earlier versions shared a typo, which the article treats as evidence that the wording was being copied; it also notes that the first-ever appearance could not be established. The review further explains why the false attribution could appear credible: the same 2channel collection placed it alongside other Yanai quotations for which the article says sources could be found, including material from his book and a company slogan. That juxtaposition may have helped the invented line circulate as though it were another genuine quotation. The review’s evidence supports rejecting the attribution, while leaving the precise origin of the copied text unresolved.

Fact CrescendoEconomy & business

Claim: adyar ananda bhavan not sold to a muslim owner

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim under review said that Adyar Ananda Bhavan had been bought by a Muslim owner, and urged Hindus and people who prefer strictly vegetarian food to take note. Fact Crescendo describes the claim as circulating on social media and says a reader had also sent it through WhatsApp asking whether it was true. To check the ownership allegation, the review says it called the phone number listed on Adyar Ananda Bhavan’s website. An employee denied that a Muslim had bought the company and characterized the claim as baseless. The publisher then checked the Ministry of Corporate Affairs website using the company registration number U15490TN2009PTC071449. It reports that the directors listed there were not Muslim; the excerpt does not provide their religious identity as a conclusion drawn from independent verification, so this evidence is best understood as the review’s stated check of the company’s records. The review also cites a Times of India report dated April 18, 2022, which it says identified Srinivasa Raja as an Adyar Ananda Bhavan director. It describes the business as founded by Tirupati Raja and managed by his sons, Venkatesan and Srinivasa Raja. On the evidence reported—an employee’s denial, the company-director information, and the cited news report—the review concludes that the alleged sale did not occur.

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaEconomy & business

මැයි 06 හර්තාල් ව්‍යාපාරයට එක්වන රාජ්‍ය සේවකයින්ගේ මසක වැටුප් කප්පාදු කිරීමේ තීරණයක් ?

Publisher’s rating: False

The claim concerned the islandwide hartal in Sri Lanka on May 6, 2022, and alleged that the government had decided to deduct a month’s salary from public employees who took part. The review says the claim circulated through social-media posts and a purported ministry announcement, including a post presented as having appeared on the Hiru News Facebook page. It distinguishes those circulated claims from the separate, real hartal organized to pressure the president and government to leave office. (S1: “වත්මන් ජනාධිපතිවරයා ඇතුළු ආණ්ඩුවට ඉවත්ව යන ලෙස බල කරමින්”; “අද දිනයේ හර්තාල් ව්‍යාපාරය සඳහා සහභාගී වන රාජ්‍ය සේවකයින්ට මසක වැටුප් කප්පාදුවක් සිදු කිරීමේ තීරණයක්”) The investigation checked whether the alleged announcement appeared in mainstream media, on Hiru News’s official Facebook page or website, and whether the ministry had issued the purported release. The review reports finding no such salary-cut coverage in mainstream outlets and no matching post or image on Hiru News’s official channels. Hiru News staff also told the reviewers that the outlet had published no such report or image. (S1: “ප්‍රධාන මාධ්‍ය ධාරා වල ද වාර්තා වී නොතිබුණි”; “ඔවුන් සඳහන් කළේ ද, අද දින හර්තාල් ව්‍යාපාරයට සහභාගී වන රාජ්‍ය සේවකයින්ගේ මසක වැටුප් කප්පාදුවක් සිදු කරන බවට කිසිදු පුවතක් හෝ ඡායාරූප සටහනක් එහි නිල ෆේස්බුක් පිටුවේ හෝ වෙබ් අඩවියේ පළ නොකළ බවයි”) The review also compared the purported notice with official-announcement formats and reported inconsistencies: the circulated document used an incomplete ministry name, had spelling errors, and bore number 22/158, whereas the review identifies the relevant presidential media release that day as number 22/151. More decisively, the Presidential Media Division said the salary-cut claim was entirely false and that neither the President’s Office nor the public-administration ministry had issued such a notification. The ministry secretary, J. J. Ratnasiri, likewise said no salary deduction had been decided and no such media release had been issued. (S1: “නිවේදன අංක 22/158 ලෙස සඳහන් වී තිබුණත්”; “අද (06) දිනයේ ජනාධිපති මාධ්‍ය අංශය විසින් නිකුත් කළ නිවේදනයේ දැක්වෙන අංකය වන්නේ 22/151 වන නිවේදනය”; “ජනපති කාර්යාලය, රාජ්‍ය පරිපාලන අමාත්‍යංශයට හෝ මෙවැනි දැනුම්දීමක් සිදු කර නොමැති”; “කිසිඳු වැටුප් කප්පාදුවක් පිලිබඳ කිසිඳු තීරණයක් ගෙන නොමැති”)