I remember Freakonomics. Thing is, it all depends. There is a
LOT of very useful information that can be drawn from large
scale studies over long periods of time, given accurate data
collection of course.
Freakonomics is basically statistical analysis gone wild with
correlations galore. It's fascinating and it's useful and _can_
have predictable capabilities *if* used properly.
The true test is to look at past predictions to see what held up
and what didn't.
Like any predictive method, knowing the limitations of the
system is critical. One erroneous hypothesis will lead to
erroneous conclusions, no matter how marvelous the data
inbetween is. But that's true of any scientific endeavor.
Also important is that numbers are analogies to real world
things. They represent real world things but they're not real
world things.
At the same time, finding similar flocking behaviors is very
useful. There's a strong measure of predictability when doing
cross-discipline comparisons and THAT'S perhaps where something
like Freakonomics really shines... just as long as it
continually compares itself to the non-numerical things it is
representing to check for accuracy. Oftentimes an elegant graph
continues being shown as if true, when it's not, because the
story the graph tells fits the story we want to tell.
