Tim Harford investigates numbers in the news. Numbers are used in every area of public debate. But are they always reliable? Tim and the More or Less team try to make sense of the statistics which surround us. A half-hour programme broadcast at 1600 on Friday afternoons and repeated at 2000 on Sundays on Radio 4. BBC World Service broadcasts a short edition over the weekend.
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.
Mon, 28 May 12
Duration:25 mins | File Size:12MB
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? And we answer a cry for help from an Australian listener who wants to be “a bit more average”.
Fri, 25 May 12
Duration:10 mins | File Size:5MB
Earlier in the year we found out that Greeks put in more working hours than Germans. But the Germans are more efficient. So that got us thinking: who works the longest hours in the world?
Mon, 21 May 12
Duration:10 mins | File Size:5MB
Troubled families, nursing numbers and the mathematical consequences of unneutered cats.
Fri, 18 May 12
Duration:28 mins | File Size:13MB
Would it be cheaper to send every Greek rail passenger by taxi instead? This programme was first broadcast on the BBC World Service.
Mon, 14 May 12
Duration:10 mins | File Size:5MB
Executive pay, chess and trouble on the Greek railway.
Fri, 11 May 12
Duration:29 mins | File Size:13MB
Are we witnessing a grand economic experiment being played out between Europe, trying to cut its way out of trouble, and the United States, trying to spend its way to redemption? Plus, we investigate the height of North Koreans. This programme was first broadcast on the BBC World Service.
Fri, 4 May 12
Duration:10 mins | File Size:5MB
Are we witnessing a grand economic experiment playing out between Britain and the United States? How long have travellers been waiting to get through immigration at Heathrow? Plus, are you going to destroy the economy this bank holiday weekend?
Fri, 4 May 12
Duration:28 mins | File Size:13MB
The Midas Formula - In this week's More or Less: The story of Black-Scholes, the equation that transformed Wall Street – and the arguments over whether it made the world a better place, or helped cause the financial mess we have all been dealing with for the past five years. This programme was first broadcast on the BBC World Service.
Fri, 27 Apr 12
Duration:10 mins | File Size:5MB
Rain and drought in numbers, the formula which changed Wall Street and then the world forever - and why Conservative MPs used to be taller than their Labour counterparts.
Fri, 27 Apr 12
Duration:29 mins | File Size:13MB