CLAYTON CRAMER looks at media innumeracy and the Lancet report. And Stephen St. Onge has further thoughts.

Megan McArdle has also read the study and is unimpressed. “Yes, I’ve read it; it’s not exactly heavy going, since it’s eight pages long and surprisingly fuzzy. They don’t break out the figures by individual province; the only clue is a map, on which Baghdad is in the basket marked “2-10 deaths per thousand per year”. This does not inspire much confidence. And the reason it is not confidence inspiring is that the fuzziness prevents comparison with figures known to be relatively reliable, such as those from Baghdad’s central morgue.” And just keep scrolling, as she has multiple posts on the subject.