(August 3, 2011 at 12:58 am)Rhythm Wrote: Void, I have no idea what data that study comes from, I don't have a stake in either side of this debate, I just found it anomalous that those two countries are in the position that they find themselves in on the graph. Intellectually rigorous, I'll have to get some sort of tag for the posts where I'm trying to be intellectually rigorous in the future. However, on a serious note, anomalous points of data are truly disturbing in any conclusion. They do need to be explained, even if they have little meaning in the end.
We don't make conclusions from anomalous points of data, we follow trends. Having a few points out of place could represent culture, one massive and uncontrolled industry amongst a strictly controlled every-day business structure (like Venezuelan tourism) etc.
Quote:Just looking at that graph, I could have drawn a very different line, Venezuala would not be anomalous if we drew the line to suggest that wealth peaked under very prohibitive systems that are much like Venezuela's, and that as control was lifted beyond that point there is an intial slump until it picks back up again, and becomes a pretty nice curve. If the graph were drawn so, it would make Italy the real anomaly.
And I could draw a zigzag... The line is shows the average income per capital given the economic freedom of the country, it can only possibly be in one place given the data, it's not a game of "connect the dots".
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