May Contain Lies: How Stories, Statistics, and Studies Exploit Our Biases--And What We Can Do about It

"Brilliantly researched and written and immensely practical in helping guide us through this thicket of (mis)information. I am already drawing on its insights in my everyday decision-making."--Andy Haldane, former Chief Economist, Bank of England "A fascinating account of how to navigate through lies and misleading statistics to arrive at a reasonable approximation of the truth. A valuable aid to make sense of our confusing world."--Raghuram G. Rajan, Professor, University of Chicago, former Governor, Reserve Bank of India, and former Chief Economist, International Monetary Fund "A powerful and punchy explanation of why misinformation is a problem that affects us all--be that in finance, politics, media, business, or anywhere else. Edmans offers clear ideas about how to counter this, not just in our own lives but also across society as a whole. Timely and very provocative!"--Gillian Tett, Editor-at-Large, Financial Times "A masterpiece! A must-read book that is a delight to consume and sure to improve the quality of your thinking."--Katy Milkman, Professor, The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, author of How to Change "Mass disinformation and poor understanding of basic statistics are the hallmarks of our 'information age.' Alex Edmans's book is the much-needed antidote."--Vaclav Smil, author of How the World Really Works and Numbers Don't Lie "A passionate and dispassionate call to truth--and how to achieve it--in a world of growing disinformation in which truth and common ground are the casualties."--Will Hutton, President, Academy of Social Sciences, author of The State We're In "A hard-hitting book with some great stories."--Andrew Gelman, Professor of Statistics and Political Science, Columbia University "How should we determine what to believe and when to be skeptical of what we read and hear? Professor Alex Edmans has written a brilliant, engaging book about how to deal with our age of endless information. With terrific examples throughout, this is a book we all would benefit from reading."--Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean, University of California, Berkeley, School of Law " May Contain Lies should be required reading for anyone venturing an opinion near a microphone or a screen. It's a lucid, honest, and vital guide to statistical reasoning, and a life raft of clarity in an ocean of lies."--Raj Patel, Research Professor, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin ""Entertaining, thorough and full of current examples. . . . It's excellent."--Jason Zweig