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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: The Dow, Tampons, Parkrun part II

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The Dow, Tampons, Parkrun part II

09/02/2018

BBC Radio 4 - More or Less, The Dow, Tampons, Parkrun part II

Why the biggest ever fall in the Dow wasn't, and how much do women spend on tampons?

Investigating the numbers in the news. Why the biggest ever fall in the Dow stock index wasn't, and how much do women spend on sanitary products?

Why the biggest ever fall in the Dow wasn't

The BBC - and many others - announced that on Monday the Dow stock index saw it's biggest ever fall. Tim Harford skewers this alarmist nonsense: what matters is the percentage fall, which was sizable but has been seen many times before. We also explain why real stock-watchers look at the S&P, not the Dow.

The cost of tampons

Amid the debates on period poverty and the 'tampon tax' it has been suggested that women spend £13 a month on sanitary products on average. But is that fair? The number comes from a survey asking women what they think they spend, but we take a trip to the shops to compare prices and we're not so sure that is a reasonable amount.

Park Run Part II

Has our running about eagerly correspondent Jordan Dunbar survived Britain's hardest parkrun?

Are 25% of citizens in the UK criminals?

How many of us in the UK are convicted criminals? According to barrister Matthew Scott it's as high as 25%. That seems like an awful lot, so we speak to crime statistics expert Professor Susan McVie to see if his numbers stand up under closer examination. 

What proportion of women got the vote in 2018?

Not all women got the vote in 2018. We look at the numbers behind women's suffrage. Do they reveal an important reason why the establishment fought so hard to stop all women getting the vote?

Presenter: Tim Harford
Producer: Charlotte McDonald.

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