Name: How Numbers Rule the World By Lorenzo Fioramonti (Senior Fellow, Centre for Social Investment, University of Heidelberg)
SKU: 9781780322674
Price: 6.90 GBP
Availability: InStock

How Numbers Rule the World Summary

How Numbers Rule the World: The Use and Abuse of Statistics in Global Politics by Lorenzo Fioramonti (Senior Fellow, Centre for Social Investment, University of Heidelberg)

Numbers dominate global politics and, as a result, our everyday lives. Credit ratings steer financial markets and can make or break the future of entire nations. GDP drives our economies. Stock market indices flood our media and national debates. Statistical calculations define how we deal with climate change, poverty and sustainability. But what is behind these numbers? In How Numbers Rule the World, Lorenzo Fioramonti reveals the hidden agendas underpinning the use of statistics and those who control them. Most worryingly, he shows how numbers have been used as a means to reinforce the grip of markets on our social and political life, curtailing public participation and rational debate. An innovative and timely expose of the politics, power and contestation of numbers.

How Numbers Rule the World Reviews

Lorenzo Fioramonti has written an urgent and highly accessible book, showing just how over-reliant our governance systems are on misleading numbers, which support market power and blur our understanding of the world. And it is also a better and more compelling read than exactly 95.4% of all other important books! * David Boyle, author of The Tyranny of Numbers *
This book is a thoughtful political economic analysis of how our fates have come to be determined by a few numbers, and how these numbers have been shaped by a few people. If we want a vibrant and responsive politics, we'll need to know where it has been enclosed by the world's powerful accountants. Fioramonti's book provides an excellent map. * Raj Patel, author of The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy *
Timely and original, scholarly without ostentation, often scathing, Lorenzo Fioramonti's field guide to the prejudices, assumptions, financial interests and ideology that lurk behind the most innocent-seeming numbers equips us to challenge their spurious authority. Faith in numbers has helped to wreck the financial system, masked fraud and criminal activity, allowed the world's richest people to meddle in the development of societies they know nothing about and could lead us to damage our earthly habitat beyond recall. If you want to learn what numbers reveal and conceal; what can and, above all, can't be measured, don't trust the experts - read How Numbers Rule the World and become an expert yourself. * Susan George, author of Whose Crisis, Whose Future? and President of the Board, Transnational Institute *

About Lorenzo Fioramonti (Senior Fellow, Centre for Social Investment, University of Heidelberg)

Lorenzo Fioramonti (@globalreboot) is associate professor and Jean Monnet chair in regional integration and governance studies at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, where he directs the Centre for the Study of Governance Innovation. He is also senior fellow at the Centre for Social Investment of the University of Heidelberg and at the Hertie School of Governance, Germany, as well as associate fellow at the United Nations University. He is the author of several books about development policies, global and regional governance, alternative economies and social progress indicators, including Gross Domestic Problem: The Politics Behind the World's Most Powerful Number (Zed Books, 2013). He blogs at www.globalreboot.org.

Introduction: The politics of statistics 1. The power of numbers 2. New global rulers: the untameable power of credit rating 3. Fiddling while the planet burns: the marketization of climate change 4. Measuring the unmeasurable: the financialization of nature 5. Numbers for good? The quest for aid effectiveness and social impact Conclusion: Rethinking numbers, rethinking governance

Additional information

Sku

GOR007300061

ISBN 13

9781780322674

ISBN 10

1780322674

Title

How Numbers Rule the World: The Use and Abuse of Statistics in Global Politics by Lorenzo Fioramonti (Senior Fellow, Centre for Social Investment, University of Heidelberg)

Author

Lorenzo Fioramonti (Senior Fellow, Centre for Social Investment, University of Heidelberg)

Series

Economic Controversies

Condition

Used - Very Good

Binding type

Paperback

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Year published

20140116

Number of pages

280

Prizes

N/A

Cover note

Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.

Note

This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

How Numbers Rule the World Lorenzo Fioramonti (Senior Fellow, Centre for Social Investment, University of Heidelberg)

How Numbers Rule the World by Lorenzo Fioramonti (Senior Fellow, Centre for Social Investment, University of Heidelberg)

Summary

How Numbers Rule the World Summary

How Numbers Rule the World: The Use and Abuse of Statistics in Global Politics by Lorenzo Fioramonti (Senior Fellow, Centre for Social Investment, University of Heidelberg)

How Numbers Rule the World Reviews

About Lorenzo Fioramonti (Senior Fellow, Centre for Social Investment, University of Heidelberg)

Table of Contents

Additional information

Customer Reviews - How Numbers Rule the World