We investigate Oxfam’s claim that “since 2020, the five richest men in the world have seen their fortunes more than double, while almost five billion people have seen their wealth fall”.   With the help of Johan Norberg, Historian and Author of ideas and Felix Salmon, Financial Correspondent at Axios, we explore the figures behind the wealth of the richest and uncover what it really tells us about the world’s financial markets.   And Charles Kenny, senior fellow at the Centre for Global Development in Washington DC, helps us unpick why, when looking at the world’s poorest people, measurements of wealth don’t always tell us what we really need to know.   Presenter: Tim Harford
Producer: Debbie Richford 
Production Co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
Series Producer: Tom Colls
Sound Mix: Hal Haines
Editor: Richard Vadon (image: Elon Musk at the Viva Tech fair in Paris June 2023. Credit: Nathan Laine/Getty Images)

Is Oxfam right about the world’s richest and poorest people?

Tim Harford and the More or Less team try to make sense of the statistics which surround us. From BBC Radio 4

Business

Investing

Careers

Management & Marketing

Business News

Shopping

If a child loves reading, how big a difference does that make to their future success?  In a much-repeated claim, often sourced to a 2002 OECD report, it is suggested that it makes the biggest difference there is – that reading for pleasure is the biggest factor in future success.  But is that true? We speak to Miyako Ikeda from the OECD and Professor Alice Sullivan from University College London. Presenter / series producer: Tom Colls
Reporter / producer: Debbie Richford
Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound mix: Graham Puddifoot
Editor: Richard Vadon

Is reading for pleasure the single biggest factor in how well a child does in life?

Polling by YouGov made headlines around the world when it suggested 20% of young adults in the US thought the holocaust was a myth. But polling experts at the Pew Research Centre thought the result might not be accurate, due to problems with the kind of opt-in polling it was based on. They tried to replicate the finding, and did not get the same answer. We speak to Andrew Mercer from the Pew Research Centre and YouGov chief scientist Douglas Rivers. Presenter /series producer: Tom Colls 
Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound Mix: Graham Puddifoot
Editor: Richard Vadon

Do one in five young Americans think the holocaust is a myth?

Libertarian populist Javier Milei won the presidential election in Argentina on a promise austerity and economic “shock” measures for the ailing economy.  Just a few months in, some are hailing the falling rate of inflation as showing those measures are working.  Economist Monica de Bolle, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, explains whether that thinking is correct.  Presenter/producer: Tom Colls
Producer: Ajai Singh 
Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound mix: Graham Puddifoot 
Editor: Richard Vadon.

Has Milei fixed Argentina’s inflation problem?

The Cass Review is an independent report on the state of gender identity services for under-18s  in England’s NHS. It found children had been let down by a lack of research and "remarkably weak" evidence on medical interventions in gender care. But before it was even released, claims were circulating online that it ignored 98% of the evidence in reaching its conclusion.  Is that claim true? We speak to Dr Hilary Cass, the author of the review, Professor Catherine Hewitt of York University, who analysed the scientific research, and Kamran Abbasi, editor in chief of the British Medical Journal. Presenter: Kate Lamble
Producer: Tom Colls
Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound Mix: James Beard
Editor: Richard Vadon

98%: Is misinformation being spread about a review of trans youth medicine?

Netflix has a big new show named after and inspired by a classic problem in astrophysics, 'The Three Body Problem', where predicting the course and orbits of three or more celestial bodies proves near impossible. But how faithful is the Netflix show - and original novel - to the actual physics?
Dr Anna Lisa Varri from the University of Edinburgh explains what we can and can't say about the complex and beautiful motions of planets, stars and moons, and brings a dose of scientific facts to science fiction. Presenter: Kate Lamble
Producer: Nathan Gower
Sound Engineer: Graham Puddifoot
Editor: Richard Vadon

Is Oxfam right about the world’s richest and poorest people?

Download our free app to listen on your phone