Now GDP data reflects the truth: drugs and sex work boost the economy
To paraphrase The Wire’s Stringer Bell: 'Product, my dear colleagues. Product'. When the putative 'CEO'…
Mike MarinettoJune 3, 2014
The World Cup group stage: predictions through the betting markets
The FIFA World Cup is just round the corner, kicking off in mid-June and ending…
House prices: statistics, politics and human behaviour
‘UK house prices rose by 8% in the year’ is the latest startling headline following…
Oz FlanaganMay 30, 2014
How well do FIFA’s ratings predict World Cup success?
The first match has yet to kickoff, but it’s not too early for the weeping…
Ray StefaniMay 28, 2014
How to measure democracy
The European elections on Thursday might not arouse much excitement among the general public but…
Andrew McCullochMay 21, 2014
Are we in a bubble? Lessons in dissecting the stock market
A dangerous misconception is 'this time it’s different'. This is the line that gave Carmen…
John FryMay 15, 2014
What if the poor doubled their share of the world’s wealth?
The Occupy movement, that erupted in 2011 and then died with a whimper in 2012,…
Michael MernaghMay 13, 2014
Is the UK shunned at Eurovision?
It’s that time of the year again. One of the biggest events in Europe’s (and…
Gianluca Baio & Marta BlangiardoMay 8, 2014
Lessons for the 2015 general election from polling history
The past is, of course, an imperfect guide, as voters and parties change and each…
RobertMay 7, 2014
Did statistical graphics turn a French economist into a star?
Few idols of the intelligentsia attain broad popularity. But last month Thomas Piketty, an economic…
Stephanie KovalchikMay 6, 2014
Should affirmative action be replaced with random selection?
The US Supreme Court recently came out with its latest decision related to affirmative action.…
Michael A. LewisMay 1, 2014
A man who did not win a Pulitzer Prize
Last year I wrote here how people preferred a musical record to … itself. The…
Mikhail SimkinApril 28, 2014
Can you raise young people’s aspirations to go to university?
Earlier this month the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in the UK published the…
Andrew McCullochApril 22, 2014
Is pop music eating itself?
Tomorrow is Record Store Day, the day when independent music stores celebrate the concept of…
Oz FlanaganApril 18, 2014
Where’s a teenager when you need one?
Over the last 10 years or so, universities in England have been working in a…
Andrew McCullochApril 15, 2014
A history of economic growth in Africa: why measurement matters
In my book - Poor Numbers: how we are misled by African development statistics and…
Morten JervenApril 9, 2014
Men, old, or old men: the need to report surveys in more detail (or why we need cross-tabulation)
The first same-sex marriages in the UK have not been universally accepted. So says a…
Simon WhiteApril 4, 2014
How statistics can help in the mission to find MH370
That the Malaysian government, with the help of the UK’s INMARSAT, was able to dramatically…
Simon MaskellMarch 31, 2014
Olympic speed skating and why all ice is not created equal
The Sochi Olympics added another chapter to the history of Olympic speed skating. An Olympic…
Ray StefaniMarch 27, 2014
Reports of a blood test for Alzheimer’s have yet to show convincing evidence
The media are always fascinated by medical 'breakthrough' stories: tales of hope that scientists have…
Jon DeeksMarch 24, 2014
