Silly statistics in the wealth inequality debate: The Undercover Economist strikes back

You may have heard that Oxfam is promoting its report that says the richest 85 people in the world have more wealth than the bottom 3.5 billion. Of course, the media have picked up the story and continue to run with it.

You may have also heard that Tim Harford is promoting his new book, The Undercover Economist Strikes Back.

In a recent talk, Harford strikes back at the the use and misuse of such factoids in the wealth inequality debate and in macroeconomics in general.

The entire talk is below. Harford begins around the 7:20 mark. Keep watching to see why economists treat data like an unfaithful spouse.

Originally posted at http://ift.tt/LkCj2i.

Old home truths about how the world works

From No Statistics, no mischief: A modest proposal for the new Fed chairman:

Stripped of his numbers an economist would have to resort to the old home truths about how the world works: If you tax something you get less of it; as a general rule an individual manages his own affairs better than his neighbor can; it’s rude to be bossy; the number of problems that resolve themselves if only you wait long enough is far larger than the number of problems solved by mucking around in them. And the cure is often worse than the disease:

“In the long run, the aggregate of the decisions of individual businessmen, exercising individual judgment in a free economy, even if often mistaken, is likely to do less harm than the centralized decisions of a Government; and certainly the harm is likely to be counteracted faster.”

Originally posted at http://www.econinternational.com/blog/2014/01/old-home-truths-about-how-the-world-works/