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Why are data so important in determining how we live?
Why are good data so important to policymakers – whether they know it or not – and what happens when good data is missing? Presenter Tim Harford speaks to Georgina Sturge, a statistician at the Hous…
Published on 3 years ago
The World Cup: how many migrant workers have died?
Qatar has been fiercely criticised over its treatment of migrant workers, many of whom have been employed to build stadiums and other infrastructure in preparation for the 2022 World Cup. We look at …
Published on 3 years ago
When do food shortages become a famine?
Somalia is experiencing its worst drought for 40 years and there are warnings that millions of people need food assistance urgently. The UN body tasked with classifying levels of food security has pr…
Published on 3 years, 1 month ago
A $220 billion World Cup?
As the FIFA World Cup in Qatar gets underway, and the newly built stadia, lavish hotels and transport networks come to life, More or Less investigates just how much the Gulf nation has spent in the l…
Published on 3 years, 1 month ago
Bonus Episode: Understand the Economy
Tim Harford brings you the first episode of his new podcast, Understand the Economy. If you’ve been missing his dulcet tones, here’s a chance for you to have a preview of Tim Harford’s latest podcast…
Published on 3 years, 1 month ago
Improving the numbers in the news
How can journalists improve their use of statistics in their reporting of the world around us? It’s a question US academics John Bailer and Rosemary Pennington tackle in their new book Statistics Beh…
Published on 3 years, 1 month ago
Lula’s “zero deforestation” plan for the Amazon
Lula Da Silva has pledged “zero deforestation” in the Amazon as he prepares to become Brazil’s next president, in contrast to the policies of outgoing leader Jair Bolsonaro under whom the destruction…
Published on 3 years, 1 month ago
Can China’s GDP data be trusted?
This week, China released its third quarter GDP figure. At 3.9%, its rate of economic growth is better than many analysts expected, but still significantly short of the 5.5% target the Chinese govern…
Published on 3 years, 2 months ago
Do half of new books really sell fewer than twelve copies?
A US government lawyer recently caused a stir in the publishing world when he said during a high profile legal trial that half of all new trade titles – books aimed at a general audience - sell a doz…
Published on 3 years, 2 months ago
Ben Bernanke and the magic of banking
The former head of the US Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke is named as one of three winners of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his work on how banking collapses were a major factor in the G…
Published on 3 years, 2 months ago