"So manipuliert man mit Statistik" is the title the editors at Die Zeit put on it. This was a shortened version of piece originally written for the IPG-Journal.
Category: Poor Numbers
African Symposium on Statistical Development
The 9th African Symposium on Statistical Development takes place from 17th to 21st February 2014 in Gaborone, remedy Botswana. I was invited by Pali Lehohla and I am really looking forward to a session on the "The facts and fiction of Africa’s statistics narrative"...
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From Bigger to Better? Data Quality in Aid and Development
Special issue on data and development in the World Politics Review out last week. Contributions from Claire Melamed, ed Jack Goldstone and I contributed a write up on the gaps in the macroeconomic statistics in some African countries.
Reading lists for 2014
In Foreign Affairs, health Nicolas van de Walle picks his top three books on Africa in 2013. Poor Numbers is one of the them. For review of the the other books, there on the ANC and on corruption in Nigeria, see here. Elsewhere, the...
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Poor Numbers on Bill Gates’ list of best books in 2013
On his blog The Gates Notes, Bill Gates features Poor Numbers: How We Are Misled by African Development Statistics and What to Do about It on his list of “The Best Books I Read in 2013.” Gates writes: “Jerven, an economist, spent four years...
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The politics of agricultural statistics
I am writing the first of a series of posts on Agriculture and Politics for the blog Democracy in Africa. I talk about some findings in a recent paper, and how it relates to the general political economy of statistics in poor countries. Some...
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African Studies Assocation Meetings in Baltimore
I am attending the African Studies Association Meetings in Baltimore this weekend. Friday November 22, 5:30-6:00 PM, I am doing a 'Meet the Author/Booksigning' event for Poor Numbers in the main exhibitor hall. I am also co-chairing a panel with Gareth Austin called "Historical...
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Africa at Dawn
That's the title of a recent editorial in the Financial Times. The editorial recounts the recent data debates. Most importantly, the FT editorial highlights how important it is to debate data openly and freely and this is in African countries' interest . Referring to...
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A historian’s take on Poor Numbers
The coverage of the debate on African statistics continues, most recently in the Globe and Mail. I am also pleased to see that it is not only politics and media that gets stirred by the book. Recently, Poor Numbers, got coverage in Significance, which is...
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Leiden African Studies Center Annual Public Lecture
I have given many talks this year, medicine but I am the most proud to have been asked to give the first annual public lecture at the African Studies Center in Leiden. It takes place on 7 November 2013, stomach 18.30 - 20.00 Pieter...
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