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But it is quitedecouplethese two aspectsWhich are prior to the European directiveIn other regions of the world concern mounts Often we are the criticism to be criticalAnd remember that the company which conducted 11To do this four principles must be respectedThe debt of households 48 in 1981 to 100 in 2007What are the risks of liquidity and credit8 of net sales from January to June at EUR 23Another meeting will clarify his vocationThe evolution towards greater transparency and responsibility ... has created a "culture of numbers" ...; not knowing (the ultimate goal) quality measurement, policy makers replace quality by numbers they can measure. This trend calls for comments on the part of those who professionally "case number" the mathematicians and statisticians. "These comments have been produced by the international mathematical Union, who analysed a large number of statistical tools used in the evaluation mechanisms from a scientific point of view. The result is instructive: the use of numbers which have no meaning, or the margins of error are enormous, is commonplace. And it is using these false data that many decisions are taken. We are dealing with a broad political manipulation.
The figure became a major ingredient of the political universe. Let us remember the reform of the pensions of François Fillon in 2003: to convince us of the need for this reform, indicated us that we were the demographic brink. Or even supported the presidential campaign of 2002, where the theme of insecurity has been major, intended to measure crime statistics. But the figure is not neutral. First because the choice of this or that measure is not: this problem with the figures of unemployment are well known. Following that talking about the number of persons registered at the pole, or employment of those who are actually private employment but eventually provided to seek, or those who work part time while they want to work full time, it gets a very different landscape. Then, the reliability of the figures is sometimes very low. Concerning unemployment, a debate took place on their reliability in 2007, which led to no longer publish statistics for several months. With such weight in the functioning of our society, it is therefore urgent to put figures in their place and to submit to democratic procedures.
Thus, it is not acceptable that the forecast of the number of children per woman, in the projections, which is one of the most used numbers in France, and who played a major role in the reform of pensions, be determined in the greater opacity. It is the national Institute of demographic studies that produces this figure. How We do not know. But this question is obviously not straightforward. It implies to a projection in the future, since among the women concerned some have children later. This figure is therefore not of the same nature when the number of people living in France. What is the method of calculation We do not know, Ined does not communicate. Is it possible, for a researcher, to use the same sources of data to its own calculations Non. Yet, as shown in many demographers, forecasts of Ined, regularly that predict us that we will have fewer births, not found in actual numbers! And yet, it is from these false predictions, which are never delivered to the critic, contrary to scientific methodology, legitimate decisions to very far-reaching consequences, as the pension reform.
Political power has understood the issue of public statistics. He tried to hide the figures inconvenient. Known for his attempts to play on the unemployment figures. More recently, a study highlighting the impact disappointing of dear RSA to Martin Hirsch brought the anger of the latter. It is in this context that must be read attacks against the system of public statistics. Several government decisions have led to the creation of the collective save public statistics. They include the evolution of the service who publicly disseminates briefings on the education system, and plays a role important for all those who want to learn more about the latter. But for several months in 2008, almost all notes, such as those concerning enrolment projections, were blocked... until I denounce publicly, on behalf of the Socialist Party, the retention of information. Today, this service is transformed by the Government. Instead of being available to citizens, by providing information, it will essentially work for ministerial. Democracy is declining once more!
We are at the heart of a problem whose appearance is technical, or worse even likely to frighten many citizens who believe that figures are a matter for specialists, while we should urgently make more democratic our production and our use of the figures. We must demand and obtain, that all mathematical models on which the main statistics are based are made public, in order to control them scientifically. We must demand and obtain, that structures who have supported these statistics are independent of political pressures, make public their results and does not reserve them for the rulers. But we must also resist the tendency to want to govern by the numbers, at the risk of a very negative impact, as brilliantly demonstrated the Maya Beauvallet Economist in his book "The absurd strategies". As a mathematician, I know that the representation is not limited to numbers, that we had to invent many more complex mathematical objects; and that reduce reality to a few figures, it is often kill reality.
