@josephreisinger

thedatamines.com

venetian treacle

costmary, 1-66 grams sweet flag, 20 grams hypericum, 8 grams Natural gum, 8 grams sagapenum, 8 grams acacia juice, 8 grams Illyrian iris (probably I. germanica), 8 grams cardamom, 8 grams anise, 12 grams Gallic nard (Valeriana italica), 16 grams gentian root, 16 grams dried rose leaves, 16 grams poppy-tears (Papaver rhoeas), 17 grams parsley, 17 grams casia, 20-66 grams saxifrage, 20-66 grams darnel, 20-66 grams long pepper, 20-66 grams storax, 21 grams castoreum, 24 grams frankincense, 24 grams hypocistis juice, 24 grams myrrh, 24 grams opopanax, 24 grams malabathrum leaves, 24 grams flower of round rush, 24-66 grams turpentine-resin, 24-66 grams galbanum, 24-66 grams Cretan carrot seeds, 24-66 grams nard, 25 grams opobalsam, 25 grams shepherd's purse, 25 grams rhubarb root, 28 grams saffron, 29 grams ginger, 29 grams cinnamon, 29 grams

The ingredients are then "pounded and taken up in honey.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithridate

The preparation of [Mithridatium] was simple in that its ingredients were free of fractional measures. Four vipers cut down small were placed in a solution of sal ammoniac, about one gallon, to which were added nine specified herbs and Attic wine, together with five fresh squills also cut down small. The pot was covered with clay and set upon a fire. When the vapour came out of the four small holes left in the clay seal, dark and turgid, the heat had reached the vipers and they were cooked. The pot was left to cool for a night and day. The roasted matter was taken out and pounded until all was reduced to powder. After 10 days the powder was ready for the next stage of manufacture.

(Griffin, Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2004)

"The Mithridatic antidote is composed of fifty-four ingredients, no two of them having the same weight, while of some is prescribed one sixtieth part of one denarius. Which of the gods, in the name of Truth, fixed these absurd proportions? No human brain could have been sharp enough. It is plainly a showy parade of the art, and a colossal boast of science.”

— Pliny (Natural History, XXIX.24-25, ca. AD 77)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithridate

“man-made and therefore unreliable”

—Li Keqiang

National income is not a "primary fact" but an "empirical construct": "To ascertain income it is necessary to set up a theory from which income is derived as a concept by postulation and then associate this concept with a certain set of primary facts.”

—Richard Stone

“The Accounts of Society,” Nobel Memorial Lecture, 1984

"There's still a Cold War element to our statistics. We're kind of in a holding pattern. In many situations I found myself wishing we had more current data and broader data."

— Alan Krueger

http://on.wsj.com/1ggFq9c

Young “The African Growth Miracle,” J. of Political Economy, 2012

Emergence of new sectors of the economy is not accurately tracked.

The collection of statistics needs to be modernized; it is time to use the new technologies to start collecting data.

…particularly important in developing countries where the prevalence of mobile phones now offers an unprecedented opportunity to measure the economy.

mobile sensors

micro to

macro

scarcity and

access risk

Average wait times are about ~10m longer in Maracaibo than in Caracas.

Police are present ~80% of the time in Maracaibo, but only 30-40% in Caracas.

Supermarket Wait Time

Police Presence

Fingerprint Scanner Prevalence

citizen journalism

volatility and

linkages

Food prices and the incidence of violence in Africa [van Weezel 2013]

[UN FAO; 2013]

infrastructure development

and mapping

Economic data = Venetian treacle

let’s fix that.

instagram/premisedata

(all of the images in this talk)

what about fraud?

おまけ

only show things with revisit

“people as

sensors”