

More or Less
BBC Radio 4
Tim Harford explains - and sometimes debunks - the numbers and statistics used in political debate, the news and everyday life
Episodes
Mentioned books

Dec 24, 2010 • 28min
What the Dickens?
Explore the financial crisis parallels in a retelling of 'A Christmas Carol' where Ebenezer Scrooge faces the ghosts of banking past, present, and future. Dive into the dilemma of 'Too Big to Fail' banks and reflections on banking ethics and the need for reform.

Dec 17, 2010 • 29min
Council of despair
Local government budgets are being cut. More or Less looks at how the pie is sliced and finds everything depends on Wokingham (yes, really). Plus: we take a look at inflation and consult the magic More or Less monkey.

Dec 10, 2010 • 28min
Degrees of Debt
We look at the numbers behind the increase in the cap on undergraduate tuition fees in England. Are the changes fair and progressive? Are they dropping future students into a deep hole of debt? Or are they both?

Oct 1, 2010 • 28min
Gay Britain
Tim Harford and the More or Less team examine the micromort measure of risk and official statistics on sexual identity.

Sep 24, 2010 • 28min
How welfare works
Exploring welfare incentives and lifestyle choices, declining bird populations due to cats, unique comparisons using PMI, controversy around cats' impact on birds, and a mathematical race at the Great North Run.

Sep 17, 2010 • 28min
Who earns more?
Who earns more: private or public employees? And are your trousers flattering you?

Sep 10, 2010 • 28min
Back to school
More or Less looks at how maths is taught in schools today and it asks what the population of the world be if WWI had never happened.

Sep 3, 2010 • 28min
03 Sep 2010
How reliable are life expectancy figures? Can cycling ever be safer than driving? And, what can maths tell us about guerilla insurgencies?


