Although the present review was written fully five years after "The Spirit Level" (by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett) was published, the rebuttal of its subject followed that original within a year. Christopher Snowdon has produced a volume about half the length of its nemesis predecessor, and spends the first half of its pages engaged in "fact checking the left's new theory of everything", per its subtitle. This reviewer provided her summary of the original book here, in slightly more timely fashion than she has this time, but before Snowdon's reply appeared.
The same disppassionate approach that Wilkinson and Picket use--almost mimicking it actually--is employed in the fact-checking half of this text. Just as the reader had originally been led to conclude that Wilkinson and Pickett's epidemiological thirst for insight led them to an income-egalitarian conclusion free of prior disposition, Snowdon's chapters one to six appear to impress on her that mere impartial inspection and curiosity led to the debunking of the same thing. In truth neither of these is remotely the case and it is impossible not to believe that pre-orientation on the political spectrum is what directed study both times round.
Beyond the data-specific scepticism that your reviewer laid before "The Spirit Level"'s analysis (which she still considers to be restrained), the bottom line of Snowdon is that unhelpful-to-the-case countries were excluded (unequal Hong Kong, Korea and Singapore, poor-yet-equal Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovenia). In general, inclusion of these countries lowers already low correlations. In addition, the previous blanket-overlooking of differences between countries--differences that are rather more stark than income inequality--is lambasted (Norway is world oil exporter number six, Portugal and Spain were run by dictators until four decades ago, Sweden has not been to war for two centuries, Israel has unique issues with neighbours, Japan differs in too many ways to mention here . . . . yet the reader is asked by W & P to put aside everything except the gap between richest and poorest fifths of population when comparing incidence of social problems). And, two of the most striking of "The Spirit Level"'s links with inequality--crime and public generosity--turn out to have been plotted using indicators that are actually themselves reverse-correlated with these independent variables--namely imprisonment rate and foreign aid (Moreover, the latter are state directed, not individually chosen as criminal activity and altruistic giving should be). So--gotcha? Later on Snowdon has a little fun with the data set reminding that covariance isnt cause: the relationship between educational prowess and distance from the north pole is pretty good apparently, as is the evidence that recycling "causes" suicide.
"And other stories" could helpfully be appended to the title of this book (something that Enid Blyton was fond of doing), because Snowdon also wants to take down at least four other books from last decade that--each in their own way--cast the prioritisation of economic growth as a social bad (and this is the crux of the matter that your reviewer was most critical of too). Two of them--"Happiness", Richard Layard, 2005, and "Affluenza", Oliver James, 2007, are in your reviewer's library too (but she has not reviewed them) and these two receive the strongest critique. But by this stage of "Delusion" it is purely with the pholophies therein, not with any data. These authors' worst error, according to Snowdon, is to believe that there is no benefit in baking a larger pie, and every benefit in sharing the present one more equitably. Probably second are the allegedly disingenuous statements that (i) the wealthy would thank the state for withdrawing wealth from them, if they were ever able to see the truth (James) and (ii) that unless something produces lasting self-reported happiness, it isn't valuable (Layard), and in fact, is akin to an addictive drug that should be punitively taxed.
Snowdon's finale is an attempt to uncloak and group together the various anti-consumerists as big government social engineers, so convinced of their wisdom that it should be compelled by fiat. In this regard the last chapter is the least dispassionate, and slightly jarringly, the reader feels a bit like she is reading a different book. The conclusion is not without truth, and your reviewer's conclusion about The Spirit Level was along similar if more understated lines. Somehow this quite brief conclusion of a rather short book still managed to leave her with the impression that it went on a bit long though.
The same disppassionate approach that Wilkinson and Picket use--almost mimicking it actually--is employed in the fact-checking half of this text. Just as the reader had originally been led to conclude that Wilkinson and Pickett's epidemiological thirst for insight led them to an income-egalitarian conclusion free of prior disposition, Snowdon's chapters one to six appear to impress on her that mere impartial inspection and curiosity led to the debunking of the same thing. In truth neither of these is remotely the case and it is impossible not to believe that pre-orientation on the political spectrum is what directed study both times round.
Beyond the data-specific scepticism that your reviewer laid before "The Spirit Level"'s analysis (which she still considers to be restrained), the bottom line of Snowdon is that unhelpful-to-the-case countries were excluded (unequal Hong Kong, Korea and Singapore, poor-yet-equal Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovenia). In general, inclusion of these countries lowers already low correlations. In addition, the previous blanket-overlooking of differences between countries--differences that are rather more stark than income inequality--is lambasted (Norway is world oil exporter number six, Portugal and Spain were run by dictators until four decades ago, Sweden has not been to war for two centuries, Israel has unique issues with neighbours, Japan differs in too many ways to mention here . . . . yet the reader is asked by W & P to put aside everything except the gap between richest and poorest fifths of population when comparing incidence of social problems). And, two of the most striking of "The Spirit Level"'s links with inequality--crime and public generosity--turn out to have been plotted using indicators that are actually themselves reverse-correlated with these independent variables--namely imprisonment rate and foreign aid (Moreover, the latter are state directed, not individually chosen as criminal activity and altruistic giving should be). So--gotcha? Later on Snowdon has a little fun with the data set reminding that covariance isnt cause: the relationship between educational prowess and distance from the north pole is pretty good apparently, as is the evidence that recycling "causes" suicide.
"And other stories" could helpfully be appended to the title of this book (something that Enid Blyton was fond of doing), because Snowdon also wants to take down at least four other books from last decade that--each in their own way--cast the prioritisation of economic growth as a social bad (and this is the crux of the matter that your reviewer was most critical of too). Two of them--"Happiness", Richard Layard, 2005, and "Affluenza", Oliver James, 2007, are in your reviewer's library too (but she has not reviewed them) and these two receive the strongest critique. But by this stage of "Delusion" it is purely with the pholophies therein, not with any data. These authors' worst error, according to Snowdon, is to believe that there is no benefit in baking a larger pie, and every benefit in sharing the present one more equitably. Probably second are the allegedly disingenuous statements that (i) the wealthy would thank the state for withdrawing wealth from them, if they were ever able to see the truth (James) and (ii) that unless something produces lasting self-reported happiness, it isn't valuable (Layard), and in fact, is akin to an addictive drug that should be punitively taxed.
Snowdon's finale is an attempt to uncloak and group together the various anti-consumerists as big government social engineers, so convinced of their wisdom that it should be compelled by fiat. In this regard the last chapter is the least dispassionate, and slightly jarringly, the reader feels a bit like she is reading a different book. The conclusion is not without truth, and your reviewer's conclusion about The Spirit Level was along similar if more understated lines. Somehow this quite brief conclusion of a rather short book still managed to leave her with the impression that it went on a bit long though.
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