23. Statistics

Hi. I am Greg and I want to grumble about statistics. It is not that, as the saying goes, there are lies, damned lies and statistics. Statistics here are maligned as they simply give us the answer to the question asked, and in doing that they illuminate important trends and social processes. Yes, at the same time they hide other things that don’t fit the categories used to make the stats, but all knowledge does that – our view is shaped by our foundational assumptions and frameworks.

Now I have been known to use the odd statistic in political debates, but my grumble is that some statistics are so powerful that they cease to be constructed numbers and become more important than the thing they represent. For instance, CPI (the Consumer Price Index) is the cost of living, not the experience of people struggling to pay bills. I suppose you could expect that in a country whose national sport is little more than double-entry book-keeping, with the 6-ball space between the advertisements taken up with discussions of figures, averages and historical aggregates.

Of course cricket statistics are mostly harmless, but it is a worry when national policy is based blindly on statistics – without questioning the assumptions behind them. For instance, when commentators talk about the economy and market forces, it is worth remembering that less than half the goods and services produced in Australia in any year are produced in a market economy. The rest are produced in the home, in the voluntary sector or by government – and often produced very efficiently! GDP – Gross Domestic Product – is not the economy!

Similarly, our environment doesn’t count in economic statistics – hence the push to introduce it via something like a carbon tax. But in the battle of statistics between atmospheric parts per million and economic dollars per capita, there was only ever going to be one winner – and that really is the point. Statistics are useful for getting attention and making arguments, but ultimately policy is decided by power not by facts and stats. So can all the well-meaning academics and policy-wonks stop tieing up our community organisations and social movements with intricate policy debates that don’t matter, and can we get on with mobilising the political power we will need to see the world changed for the better.

I am Greg, and I am grumbling.

This Grumble can be heard online or by podcast at https://radio.adelaide.edu.au/gregs-grumbles-23/ 

 First Broadcast: 7 January 2014