The World is Actually Getting Safer

The Amateur Thinker has post about the world getting better despite all the forthcoming-apocolypse hyperbole. I tend to fall into the camp that things are getting worse more so than better, but perhaps I'm just eating what is being spoon-fed to me by a sensationalist media? I'd be interested to really peel back the statistics and see how everything is thought through, but not so interested to actually do it. There are ample footnotes for anyone who might be intrigued.

My biggest red flag is that he mentions Stalinist Russia and WWII. I'm not concerned with large-scale events so much as the day-to-day life. If that is truly being included in the calculations, then I think we have an entirely different story. Abortion rates and teenage pregnancy decreasing are certainly good news though.

Read the full article here (via Ritholtz)

Today in American Statistical Trivia

The NYT published some interesting graphic-accompanied statistical data about the US from The US Statistical Abstract. This kind of stuff isn't even close to useful information, but its kind of neat. Plus, anything I can gain in this field puts me one step closer to ever beating Nancy at something trivia-related (24 years of sibling-ness and its yet to happen). Check out the story here. Some of the highlights (file under 'this week's sign of the apocalypse)


- Twice as many young adults bowl as ride bicycles.
- We ate 5.4 pounds less red meat per person since 2000
- We ate 30 pounds fewer vegetables per persons since 2000
- 41% of all births were to unmarried women (up 22 points since 1980)
- 7.3 million adults in jail, on parole or probation in 2008.