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Thursday, January 06, 2011

Key numbers from 2010

As Tim Harford writes, “numbers have a curious power over us: orators, from high-school debaters to candidates for high office, know persuasive appeals gain credibility if seasoned with data.”

 

Tim shares some key number from 2010 here:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1bafb49a-136e-11e0-a367-00144feabdc0.html?ftcamp=rss#axzz1AGVHBaQV

My favorite:

 

“At times the headlines are out of all proportion to the data. The 11,041 deaths in the Mexican drug war is a truly astonishing statistic for an often under-reported story. They have been overshadowed by the 948 hostages taken by Somali pirates. And both, of course, were drowned out by the uplifting and telegenic story of 33 men trapped underground for 69 days in Chile.“

 

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