Mesoblast's Delayed Launches, Teva Split Turn Credit Suisse Bearish, page-25

Look, I'm not particularly a fan of shorters either but your obsession is only looking at one half of the picture and I don't think your quibble about accurate reporting is relevant except at the margins.

You seem to infer that there are an infinite number of shares to short. If a share is short sold my understanding is:
1. There's a price to be paid to the owner of the share for the duration of the short (effectively a rental) AND
2. It has to be bought back at some point.

So, if you're complaining that there were 4% of MSB shares short at the start of (say) 2015 then it's not as if the shorters can keep shorting another 4% every year.

Do you accept that there are periods when shorters have to buy back in leading to increased buying demand? Yes or No?

Every shorter needs a holder willing to make their shares available to short. Who are these holders?

So unless you're suggesting that the percentage of shorts keeps going up infinitely, a mature stock will reach a point when the NET percentage shorting of a stock over time averages zero (some years the percentage goes up, some they go down).

BUT, when the number of shares keeps increasing (particularly if those shares are issued to holders who have a propensity to loan stock for shorting) then the total volume/number of shares available to short keeps increasing.

I'm sure you'd hate to acknowledge it but this is sort of the point where your perspective and Madam's come together in the impact of dilutionary Capital raisings.