20.08.07
Statistics used properly
Just heard a news item on the radio about the falling number of petrol stations in the UK. Apparently there are far fewer than there ever were. And according to the man from the beeb
“If the current trend continues there will be no forecourts left by 2020″.
Magic! That’s right there will be nowhere to fill up by 2020. It would make cars less attractive I suppose. Or it might be that the reporter doesn’t have a clue here. What’s this? A journalist not understanding how to use basic maths? Never.
Have fun.
sweavo said,
August 22, 2007 at 2:25 pm
There was a dead good one on R4 the other day, though I fear it was done knowingly. It was something like: “At the time of Elvis’s death, there were 200 known Elvis impersonation acts. Today there are over 200,000. If the current trend continues, by 2060, one in six people will be an Elvis impersonator”.