Putting on my tinfoil hat, I wonder if this error was intentional or unintentional? Was the errant conclusion known to be false by any who propagated it? If so,

Putting on my tinfoil hat, I wonder if this error was intentional or unintentional? Was the errant conclusion known to be false by any who propagated it? If so, by whom and to what end? For example, perhaps the US and Euro governments wanted to justify some tough measures of fiscal restraint and increase public support, and they wanted to keep it from being delayed until collapse was impossible to avoid. (See, I'm not totally jaded. But I can think of plenty of worse scenarios too.) The "flaws" seem to be too large (and some deliberate) to be unintentional, but maybe I give too much credit. I've just noticed too much misinformation being spread by those who should know better, and coincidentally seem to benefit the most from it. I'm suspending my judgement until I learn more, but anyone else have any insights?