Tim Harford, Discover and Read the Best of Twitter Threads by @TimHarford

Tim Harford

TimHarford

HAPPY WORLD STATISTICS DAY EVERYONE!World Statistics Day only comes every five years - like the Olympics - so it's time to express a little mindful gratitude for all the statisticians

So, Rule One: SEARCH YOUR FEELINGS.What we believe, or refuse to believe, is strongly influenced by our emotional reaction. A lot of the statistical claims we see aren’t just data:

THREAD1/ The prospects for an effective vaccine look quite promising. But the world's best vaccine is no good if people don't take it. So how can we make that happen?

THREAD1/"When the facts change, I change my opinions. What do you do? - Attributed (without evidence) to John Maynard Keynes, hero of "How To Make The World Add Up" ch

1/ Time for an apology and a correction. Seems that every newspaper in the UK is (correctly) reporting that I said the risk of catching a fatal case of Covid-19

A friend of mine thinks it's too risky to go out, and asked me to do the maths for him. I did:https://www.ft.com/content/176b9bbe-56cf-4428-a0cd-070db2d8e6ff You need to make a lot of assumptions

STORYTIMEOn the 2nd of March 1959, a group of jazz musicians assembled at 30th Street in Manhattan, in a church that had been converted into a recording studio. Miles Davis,

Amidst the many pandemic casualties, both literal and economic, I have seen little talk of the cheesemakers.Turns out that some farmhouse cheese makers are struggling, because the fine restaurants that

Peter Sinclair died yesterday, after many days in hospital with covid-19. It's a heavy blow. Peter was an inspirational economics teacher and a wonderfully kind man. 1/ Peter inspired a