Measuring government size is not as easy as it sounds.

FORBES: Has The U.S. Government Gotten Bigger Or Smaller? Yes.

This does not mean, of course, that net migration has not fallen, just that, according to some experts, the government's main method of measuring its progress is little better than a rough guess.

BBC: The truth behind UK migration figures

While the CPI at one time was the measure desired by the public, government efforts turned the CPI away from measuring the price changes in a fixed-weight basket of goods and services to a quasi-substitution-based basket of goods, which destroyed the concept of the CPI as a measure of the cost of living of maintaining a constant standard of living.

FORBES: CPI Inflation Rate Calculator (Experienced vs. Reported)

We would all be better off if our leaders in government recognized that when we trade, we're exchanging products for products--money merely the measuring rod of value that increases the frequency of exchange.

FORBES: The sheer folly of currency devaluation.

The check is aimed at measuring whether pupils have a good understanding of phonics - the sounds of letters and groups of letters - which the government says is the key to helping children to read.

BBC: Education & Family