[lbo-talk] Naomi Klein Goes Daft

[Bill Hoffman]

Apart from her use of "average" when "mean" would have been more accurate,
and probably her intent, I'm wondering about the association of the
relationship with wealth. What nations provide the counterexamples - for
instance, where most people earn MORE than the mean income...or even where
"most" people earn the "mean" income. Her point could have been made as
forcefully without quantitative allusions.

On Feb 6, 2008 7:46 AM, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:


>
> On Feb 5, 2008, at 9:58 PM, Miles Jackson wrote:
>
> >> Hmm, she really needs to study some economics. This would be true if
> >> you substituted "mean" for "average."
> >
> > Most statistics textbooks treat these terms as synonyms.  What's the
> > other meaning of average?
>
> "Average" is used both as a broad term for measures of central
> tendency as well as a synonym for "mean." At least that's the way I
> learned it. In this case, the way NK wrote it - like an inverted
> Woebegon - would lead a lot of people to scratch their heads. Maybe
> she and/or the Nation eds were afraid of bringing up the concept of
> "median" vs. "mean" because it's too geeky. Or maybe they don't
> really know the diff.
>
> Doug
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