Examining the numbers behind Andy Burnham’s ‘Manchester Miracle’
About this episode
Tim Harford investigates the economic claims of Andy Burnham and explores urban heat islands and prime numbers.
Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news. This week: (00:23) Andy Burnham may not be Prime Minister yet, but he’s setting out his economic agenda, and its based on his old stomping ground, Greater Manchester. We ask whether the official figures that seem to show an economic miracle can be fully believed, and how much credit he deserves. (10:09) As our towns and cities get hotter, would turning to air conditioning really drive outside temperatures up by 10 to 12 degrees celcius? We learn about the fascinating world of ‘urban heat islands’. (15:40) We turn to homophones in an attempt to continue a running joke. This week, we follow six items about Wales with an item about whales - are our cetacean friends the carbon sinks of our dreams? Will we ever write a stranger paragraph? (22:10) Cult director and maths fanboy Werner Herzog has been waxing lyrical about the intruiging mysteries of prime numbers. Tim cracks out a surprisingly decent impression and we learn about one of the most inscrutable problems in mathematics - what’s not to like? More or Less is the programme that looks at numbers and statistics in news and in life. We’re always looking for questions from…
People in this episode
Host: Tim Harford
Guests: Paul Swinney, Liam Sides, Dimple Rana, Sue Grimmond, Dr Olaf Meynecke
Topics covered
- economic agenda
- urban heat islands
- prime numbers
- Manchester
- climate change
- cetaceans
Keywords
- Andy Burnham
- Manchester Miracle
- urban heat islands
- prime numbers
- climate change
- cetaceans
- economics
- statistics
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: The Data City, Oxford Economics, Arup, University of Reading
More episodes of More or Less
- How much luck do you need to win the World Cup?
- Does playing tennis make you live 9.7 years longer?
- Does the average teacher really earn £54,000?
- Does a full moon make crime rates go up?
- Benefits vs minimum wage: Which pays more?
- Is the US worse than North Korea for malnutrition deaths?
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the More or Less podcast page.