There’s Less to It Than Meets the Eye

Numbers are neutral in the sense that they themselves do not carry a built-in one-and-only-one interpretation. How numbers are interpreted will, at best, depend on the capability and judgment of the interpreter and, at worst, on the cleverness of the spin doctor entrusted with putting on them the best possible face. It is often the case that “experts” see very

different things in the same numbers and that different numbers concerning the same issue seem to be contradictory.