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Tim Harford explains the numbers and statistics used in everyday life

Tim Harford explains - and sometimes debunks - the numbers and statistics used in political debate, the news and everyday life

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More or Less: Would firing staff 'at will' boost the economy?

Factual

25/05/2012

Would firing staff 'at will' boost the economy?

BBC Radio 4 - More or Less, Would firing staff 'at will' boost the economy?

The Beecroft Review, infidelity, Ben Goldacre and the truth about hard-working Greeks.

Is there any evidence to support the Beecroft Review's recommended changes to employment law? Plus hard-working Greeks, infidelity, and Ben Goldacre on publication bias.

In this week's programme:

Fire "at will"?
The Beecroft Report has been stirring up controversy all week. But is there any evidence that the economy would be boosted if employers could fire their staff "at will", as Adrian Beecroft recommends? Professor John Van Reenan - director of the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics - can't find much.

Hard-working Greeks
One version of the Euro crisis story has it that hard-working Germans are bailing out lazy Greeks. But in fact Greek workers put in far longer hours than their German counterparts. 

The maths of infidelity
It's a very commonly-held belief that men are less faithful than women. But it takes two to tango. So can this be mathematically possible?

Publication bias
If we on More or Less were only to report statistical errors, and never statistical triumphs, you could be forgiven for concluding that the world is full of numerical lies. That's "publication bias" - and it's a big problem in science, as Ben Goldacre explains.

Presenter: Tim Harford
Producer: Richard Knight.

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

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