Welcome to Matt Berkley’s
website.
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I am a Matt Berkley who’s based in England.
One of my interests is in large-scale social
science.
I’ve been questioning aspects of this especially since 2000, when I found
economists claimed to know average outcomes for the poorest without looking at
how many survived. In some countries average incomes rose and life
expectancy fell due to AIDS. The average rise is not the same thing
as the rise in the average.
I also found economists saying they had data on economic benefits to the
poorest without looking at any relevant prices. Strangely, these
kinds of errors seemed to be widespread in international development policy
discussions among academics, journalists politicians and charities.
….
Questioning social
science
Benn and UN
experts differ over global food needs
In 2006 the UK Secretary of State claimed global poverty trend without looking
at food needs. 22 February 2006.
A
non-economist's view of some World Bank aims, reporting and policy research
Traditional macroeconomists’ claims about prosperity and policies have
structural biases against long life, cheap food, and ownership of land.
(2004)
The
survival error in social science goes beyond economics
An error in some Millennium Goal indicators reveals the inadequacy of social
science education. 5 February 2006.
Social
science and government aims
Proposed standards for large-scale goals and research. Explains
distinctions: income and profit, prices and cost of living, rise in average and
average rise, etc. Standards are necessary for meaningful discussion of
future aims and past evidence. 2006.
Five axioms, four puzzles
and four suggestions on hunger in the human species
Puzzling features of global statistics may be partially due to social
scientists’ errors. Axioms needed. (2004)
Discoverer
of global poverty error calls for statistics on survival
Economists forgot average food needs are rising. Article in
Addis Tribune (week of 28 November 2003).
Thoughts on the adequacy
of social science
Correspondence and other documents 2000-3. With quotations from others
making similar points. It is necessary to look at survival rates
when adding up outcomes.
An error in the “poverty
reduction” debate and in traditional economic analysis
Error is to claim to have added up individuals’ progress among the
poorest while ignoring death rates. 3 August 2000.
Inflation and poverty
Challenges part of the idea, common among economists, that income
measures profit. (2003)
Economics
is not utilitarian
Economists need to learn difference between “the average rise” and “the rise in
the average”. Contributor “pqwo” is me. (2002)
Economics
of survival
Letter to Professor Jeffrey Sachs as Chairman of the World Health Organisation
Commission on Macroeconomics and Health. Survival data are needed for
adding up progress of individuals. 11 April 2001.
25: A tool for understanding global
goals and statistics
Quick way of assessing politicians’ goals and claims. 21 January 2006.
New
draft list of standards for large-scale goals and social science reporting
Similar list to “25” with more detail. 21 January 2006.
Statistics and survival
Letter to editor of the Economist. October 2001.
Why macroeconomics is not
utilitarian (longer article from 2003)
New directions in development economics: How to
make the Millennium Goal on poverty effective, 2003
The wealth of persons
Documents from 2003 with some information about me, and possibly a few things I
no longer believe.
Numbering system for guitar tunings and other uses
........
matt at mattberkley dot com
Unit 164, 266 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 7DL, England
+44 (0)7868 397699