Data: you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone
To decide whether official statistics are useful, look at what happens when they disappear
To decide whether official statistics are useful, look at what happens when they disappear

The creation and dissemination of reliable news is at an economic disadvantage

But it relies on a host of rosy assumptions going in investors’ favour

Centuries of the subtle craft of measurement have given way to gadgets that spew numbers

A crude blend of very different statistics is not the best tool for the job

Users trust it even less than they do mainstream news outlets

Power flows less from size or wealth than from the ability to convert imbalance into leverage