The Spirit Level Delusion: Fact-Checking the Left's New Theory of Everything

by Christopher Snowdon

Do Cubans live longer than Americans? Are Scandinavians happier than the British? Do Oscar winners live longer than other actors? Does capitalism cause mental illness? Does inequality lead to murder? Would higher taxes make us slimmer, more trusting and more charitable? The Spirit Level Delusion shines the light of reason on some of the extraordinary claims made in favour of big government in the twenty-first century. Several books (The Spirit Level, Happiness and Affluenza amongst others) have called for a radical shift in power from the individual to the state based on the supposedly devastating effects of wealth, economic growth and inequality. By examining all the available evidence, Christopher Snowdon tests the theory that 'more equal' countries are healthier, happier and more successful. Through a sober assessment of the facts-including some inconvenient truths - The Spirit Level Delusion shows that the theory not only lacks empirical support but also fails the basic test of believability.

Genres: Politics, Economics, Nonfiction, Society

172 pages, Paperback

First published May 10, 2010

Reviews

[Tara Brabazon · Rating 1 out of 5]

I cannot believe what I have just read. Thin book - physically and intellectually.

[Alexandru · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great error finding of a very famous published book. Many of the issues found were identified by me as well when I've read the analyzed book. Unfortunately, it will not convince people that think ideologically when analyzing the issue of inequality judging from the comments to both books. It is a pity it is so hard for people to stick to numbers and scientific methods when analyzing politically charged topics.

[Valerie Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read book for anyone interested in understanding what's often peddled as sound evidence-based research. The Spirit Level, which was cited in parliament to support a health care bill is, as the author explains, based on extremely selective evidence. I swear, read this book and your jaw will drop. The author has done a public service in writing it. I laughed a few times (rather than cry). In my book, facts tampered with to fit, become fiction and it grieves me to think the trusting public have been legged over by what is closer to a novel than a serious work designed to aid the greater good.

[Paul Sand · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Imported automatically from my blog. Some formatting there may not have translated here.]

A bit of explanation first:

I saw this book by Christopher Snowdon favorably mentioned out there in one of the right-wing fever swamps that I routinely visit. Since I knew that the library of the University Near Here owned The Spirit Level (TSL from here on), I suggested via their online form that they pick this up as well. In order, primarily, to give our local scholars a shot at seeing both sides of the inequality debate.

Somewhat surprisingly, the library purchased it at my suggestion. So I felt obligated to also read TSL (which I would not ordinarily have bothered to do); if you missed them, my TSL comments are here. Summary: I wasn't impressed. Although I read Snowdon's book in parallel with TSL, I tried to restrict myself to criticisms I came up with independently.

Snowdon's book deals primarily with fact-checking (and mostly refuting) many of TSL's arguments, although other works in the same genre with similar theses are mentioned. Snowdon accuses TSL authors, Wilkinson and Pickett, of assuming their conclusion (inequality causes all sorts of bad stuff), then cherry-picking data that seem to bear that out.

For example: when doing comparisons and correlations between "rich" nations, Wilkinson and Pickett include Portugal (which isn't particularly rich), but exclude Slovenia, Hong Kong, and Singapore (which are). Their justification seems weak, and it just so happens that different selections of countries can weaken or eliminate a number of TSL's strong correlations between inequality and various dysfunctions.

Similarly, in some cases, so-called "outliers" cause TSL to conclude cause-and-effect. They graph homicide rate vs. inequality and (no surprise), they spy a strong correlation. But this conclusion relies heavily on the inclusion of Portugal and (unfortunately) the USA. If you remove these two countries from the mix, the correlation goes away, as does TSL's conclusion. It's not robust.

Some of the refutations don't require any heavy statistical lifting whatsoever. For example, TSL correlated inequality against the percentage of waste recycled; they use the resulting regression line to "demonstrate" that more-equal societies are more civic-minded.

But Snowdon argues (convincingly) that this just shows there are two kinds of countries: those whose governments have set up mandatory recycling laws, and those who haven't. People aren't recycling more because they look around and don't see a lot of income disparities; they recycle more because they get fined if they get caught doing otherwise.

So I had a higher opinion of Snowdon's book than TSL, not surprising given my general ideological slant. Readers should feel free to make up their own minds, not that readers need me to tell them to do that. If you don't want to shell out the bucks for one or both books, you can get the flavor of the (ongoing) argument from duelling websites: The Equality Trust from Wilkinson/Pickett, and The Spirit Level Delusion from Snowdown. Particularly interesting is Snowdon's "Chapter 10", a freely-available PDF addon to this book, a discussion of Wilkinson and Pickett's response to criticisms of TSL.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

The research in this book was extremely valuable. The reason I did not give it more stars is because it projects quite a bit of ideology of its own. As a critique, the book was strong, but negating evidence for one argument only negates evidence for that argument-- it does not necessarily prove a separate point. This book offered great insight into the methodology behind the Spirit Level and the viability of the arguments it put forth-- I wish it had stuck to that without pedalling its own politics, too.
Anyone who has read The Spirit Level should be sure and read this book, too.

[Jrohde · Rating 3 out of 5]

This critique of The Spirit Level, while clearly politically motivated by the right, has some strong points that I feel Wilkinson has not addressed and makes the entire idea of inequality as the answer to everything in society quite unconvincing. Well worth reading this along with the other

[Sho · Rating 2 out of 5]

goes through The Spirit Level and tries to pull it apart using the same or similar (or availabe but non-utilised) data.

It was interesting but ultimately my comment is "meh"

[Stephen Hoffman · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5 stars rounded to 4)

This book is very strong when it comes to debunking some of the key graphs The Spirit Level relied on for its hypothesis. Snowdon highlights how they cherry pick, misinterpret and misrepresent data in a way to me that fatally weakens their arguments.

Its also very strong in my view and I will admit to having an ideological preference in favour of capitalism and wealth creation, when highlighting the perverse nature of a version of socialism that would lead to the equal sharing of miseries and make everyone poorer. He also rightly highlights the benefits far outweigh the negatives when it comes to wealth creation and economic growth.

However, the book was weak for me when talking about mental health and psychology. The author ignores that one of the key reasons that mental health conditions like anxiety and depression are more prevalent than the past is that people are more open about their mental health problems and speak openly about it. There is also thankfully though we have a long way to go less stigma attached to mental health conditions in society. On top of this I didn't appreciate how the author had a somewhat dismissive position on bipolar. Additionally and I know this from personal experience one of the reasons a lot of mental health conditions are not diagnosed in person is because those with mental health conditions can often not face in person appointments. I also felt though he had a point in the widening of mental health conditions he did exactly what the authors of the spirit level do in cherrypicking his evidence and ignoring those opposed to his point of view.

The crime and punishment chapter I also think downplayed the issues of lack of rehabilitation.

That said the majority of the chapters outside of those two were of a very high standard and comprehensively debunked the arguments made in the Spirit Level, based on a champagne socialist view which would make everyone poorer by trying to end economic growth and put significant barriers to wealth creation.

What I particularly liked was how in concise language the author put economics, statistics and graphs into precise plain English with examples linked to daily life, rather than bombarding the reader with academic jargon.

I thought the conclusion was OK, but a bit of a mish mash until we got to the key concluding argument in the last couple of pages, which was laid out strongly.

I would recommend this book, despite some of the issues I've outlined.

[Franci · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed Wilkinsons book, but after reading this response, I am convinced that Wilkinson was just not scienticelly sincere. His idea is just not prroven . Period. Too bad, i liked the phylosophy which was a conequnce of his ideas, now I am back to teality.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

'The Spirit Level' is polemic masquerading as serious research. This book rips it to bits.

[Kevin]

Brilliant stuff. More at http:www.greatesthitsblog.com

[Iain Hamill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Needs to be read in conjunction with the Spirit Level.

Correlation need not equal causation...