As the election season enters the home stretch, expect politicians to argue over worldviews and policies, claims and counterclaims, summoning countless facts and figures as support. The problem for those of us listening to the litany is only increasing: How do we sort through which numbers actually mean something, versus those that score primarily rhetorical points?
"Even if the statistics themselves are absolutely accurate, the words that describe what they are measuring can be grossly misleading," writes economist and political theorist Thomas Sowell. For some media, however, the alarming statistics can serve a transcendent purpose: they make for a better story that way. Courtesy National Review.