For whom the bell Tols - Josh 311

Richard Tol says that Bob Ward is 'engaged in a smear campaign' against him. Reading quite a bit of what Bob has written over the past few years, and not just about Richard but about many others, it is difficult not to agree.

H/t to Anthony Watts who came up with 'SpongeBob SmearPants'.

Cartoons by Josh

Consensus collapse

Most people who have looked at John Cook's legendary 97% consensus paper would say it is little more than a legend, but the study's continued citation in the popular press does leave a pressing need for a thorough refutation, which has now helpfully been provided by Richard Tol. The paper is paywalled here and there is a useful presentation of the results here, which is more accessible to the layman.

Overall, Cook did not show what he claimed to show. He merely demonstrated his incompetence in survey design and statistical analysis. The secrecy around the data suggests that there are more problems.

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