The Numbers Guy examines numbers in the news, business and politics. Some numbers are flat-out wrong or biased, while others are valid and help us make informed decisions. Carl Bialik tells the stories behind the stats, in daily updates on this blog and in his column published every other Friday in The Wall Street Journal. Carl, who holds a degree in mathematics and physics from Yale University, also cowrites The Daily Fix, a sports column on WSJ.com. He welcomes your comments at .

The Numbers Guy
copyright © 2013 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Carl Bialik examines the way numbers are used, and abused.

Tough Math of Victim Funds
Kenneth Feinberg explains his approach to deciding how to distribute funds for victims of tragedies such as the Boston Marathon bombings.
Same-Sex Divorce Stats Lag
As gay-rights advocates push for more states to legalize same-sex marriage, they are also pushing for the right to same-sex divorce. But the stats on this new form of relationship split are lagging.
The Cost of Terror
Economists say the long-term cost of the Boston bombings likely is small, but there is plenty of uncertainty attached to that projection, as there is to estimates of the cost of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The Math Errors That Slip Through the Crack
The finding that a prominent economics paper was based in part on a spreadsheet coding error highlights the cracks in quality control that can allow such mistakes to slip through.
One Size May Not Fit All in Obesity Definition
Samoa Air's decision to charge airfare by passenger weight has highlighted the obesity crisis in Pacific islands -- and some controversy over just how severe the crisis is.
Putting a Price Tag on Film Piracy
The movie industry moves away from dated estimates of the economic effects from piracy and toward collaboration with academic researchers seeking natural experiments in the digital-film world.
Calorie Cutters
A look at a pledge by food makers to cut 1.5 trillion calories from the food and drink they sell by 2015. Can they do it, and if they can, can it be measured and what impact will it have?
Guns Present Polling Conundrum
How many guns, gun owners, and households with guns are there in the U.S.? The answers aren't easy to come by, a mystery pollsters are eager to solve.
The World’s Best Bites
An annual attempt rank the world's 50 best restaurants confronts challenges around comped meals, lobbying and balancing the world's regions.
Economists Study Early Education
Researchers studying early education use return-on-investment calculations to measure the value of getting an early start on teaching children.