How to Lie with Statistics

Nearly two years ago, Charles Murray published the now famous Losing Ground, a careful and comprehensive argument for the proposition that the welfare state hurts the poor. Losing Ground was easily the most important publicpolicy treatise in several years. Written in crisp prose comprehensible to a congressman on a campaign, the book initially took Washington by storm and shook the redoubts of poverty scholarship. Even The New Republic published a strong endorsement by Nicholas Lemann.

There was, however, too much at stake for the poverty mandarins. The counterattack came soon, culminating in a grand assault at the December 1984 Williamsburg Conference on Poverty, sponsored by the all-important Institute for Research on Poverty. The counterattack was, in political terms, a huge success. It produced paper after scholarly paper, all chock full of statistics apparently refuting Murray. The few conservatives at the conference were incapable of responding to this avalanche of numbers on the spot.

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Charles Murray

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Nearly two years ago, Charles Murray published the now famous Losing Ground, a careful and comprehensive argument for the proposition that the welfare state hurts the poor. Losing Ground was easily the most important publicpolicy treatise in several years. Written in crisp prose comprehensible to a congressman on a campaign, the book initially took Washington by storm and shook the redoubts of poverty scholarship. Even The New Republic published a strong endorsement by Nicholas Lemann.

There was, however, too much at stake for the poverty mandarins. The counterattack came soon, culminating in a grand assault at the December 1984 Williamsburg Conference on Poverty, sponsored by the all-important Institute for Research on Poverty. The counterattack was, in political terms, a huge success. It produced paper after scholarly paper, all chock full of statistics apparently refuting Murray. The few conservatives at the conference were incapable of responding to this avalanche of numbers on the spot.