Authors
Vaibhav is a part of Newschecker’s English team, where he spots and debunks all kinds of misinformation, making the rounds on the internet. A Journalism graduate from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, he holds an M.A degree in Philosophy and an M.Phil from Delhi University.
A quote from Raghuram Rajan has been going viral on social media alleging that the former governor of the Reserve Bank of India stated that India should be in a recession to demonstrate “inclusivity.” Newschecker found these claims to be untrue.
The quote has been shared on Twitter by user @InsightGL which has garnered 3,647 likes and 782 retweets on the platform. A picture of Raghuram Rajan has been shared along with the caption ‘Former Governor of RBI Raghuram Rajan: #India must get hit by #recession to show inclusivity. If India is not hit by recession like the rest of the world will make India get cornered. Albert Einstein: Two things are infinite: universe & human stupidity; & I’m not sure about universe.’
Newschecker found similar claims on Twitter.
Fact Check/Verification
We started our investigation by conducting a keyword search with the words “Raghuram Rajan” and “India should be in a recession to demonstrate inclusivity” and found an article by Fauxy titled ‘India will be cornered if it doesn’t get hit by recession like rest of the world: Raghuram Rajan’ on 2nd September, 2022.
According to the article, Raghuram Rajan told Fauxy that “the ways for India to remain inclusive and advised that a small recession hitting India won’t impact its economy but will avoid India getting cornered. Raghuram Rajan asked FM to keep CAD a little high and follow policies which were followed during UPA govt. He assured Indians of getting hit by recession which he’s been predicting for the past 10 years.”
Upon checking the website, Newschecker found a Disclaimer at the bottom which reads “The Fauxy is an entertainment portal. The content of this website is purely for entertainment purposes and readers are advised not to confuse the articles of The Fauxy as genuine and true.”
The About Us section of the website reads “The Fauxy is an entertainment media company that connects with young, intelligent and diverse audiences that are shaping our future. Through thought-provoking comedy, and high-impact storytelling we aim to start a conversation around subjects that are usually viewed as a taboo for today’s youth.”
We thus understand that social media users shared the quote as real after mistaking the satire article to be a factual report.
Conclusion
Newschecker’s investigation reveals that the viral quote attributed to Raghuram Rajan is satire. The quote was published in a satirical website called Fauxy.
Result: Satire
Our Sources
Fauxy article, India should be in a recession to demonstrate inclusivity, 2nd September, 2022
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Authors
Vaibhav is a part of Newschecker’s English team, where he spots and debunks all kinds of misinformation, making the rounds on the internet. A Journalism graduate from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, he holds an M.A degree in Philosophy and an M.Phil from Delhi University.
