Is a survey like a mirror on a wall?

A debate on election polling.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qwf85y4yrfn4xpg/Election%20Surveys%20for%20publication.pdf?dl=0

Progress and income inequality in PH

A recent Pew Research Center piece  has data on income inequality for various countries and the world.

The distribution of income in PH is as follows for 2011: 14% poor; 72% low-income; 14% middle to upper middle; and 0.2% high-income.

The global percentages are: 15% poor; 56% low-income; 22% middle to upper middle; and 7% high-income.

What might be concluded? We aren’t exactly poor, but we are predominantly low-income. That means the middle and high income groups are a minority of only 14%.

The economic challenge to those who claim they have a better mousetrap is whether they can reduce the low-income group to the global average of about 50%, raise the middle group to 30+%, while lowering the poor to 10% or below. Doable, but not easy, over the next decade.

Averages don’t matter

Here’s a link to a discussion on statistics.  If you did some thinking, many things you don’t see have a powerful story.  Bastiat is famous for the cases of the unseen.

Hat tip to Don Boudreaux.