13 Comments
User's avatar
Helen Dale's avatar

Entire disciplines are in the process of being destroyed by this sort of thing. Still, well done to you for making sure everyone knows (disclosure: previous employment in the legal end of corporate finance).

SCA's avatar

“My job is to make you care, by explaining this scandal in a digestible way.”

Performance review: Fulfills all expectations. Goes above and beyond.

Ted's avatar

Plenty of reasons to care very deeply, but you've made that caring a bit more comprehensible.

The response you received to your EJMR comment, encapsulates the effect of the meta-problem of dataset "adjustments" throughout every type of research.

Credentials do not obviate naked self-interest. On the contrary, they enhance the pursuit of wealth and influence; it is their raison d'etre.

The fashionable assumption that those bestowing credentials concurrently bestow probity upon the recipient, is risible.

JT Cohort Internationale's avatar

Let us all fake some results to get publications and then tenure. Let's worry about being caught later.

WJM's avatar

I likely missed it, but, while I understand the nature of the fraud and the implications on subsequent papers etc., I don’t understand what exactly it was that BBW claim to have proved or demonstrated that now needs to be scrapped. Is there a simple summary of what it was that everyone got excited about in their original paper? Did they purport to show something about bond returns that is not true?

Christopher Brunet's avatar

> I don’t understand what exactly it was that BBW claim to have proved

Whether or not downside risk is a strong predictor of future bond returns. It isn't!

Rick Brunet's avatar

Well done Chris. Thank you for all your work.

Green Leap Forward's avatar

Nicely done!

The studies in support of so-called protected bikeways suffer from similar fraud.

Running Burning Man's avatar

You should elaborate on that. It sounds like a potential risk of the so-called “meta analysis” referred to by one of the objectors to Coleman _______ on The Free Press recent piece on his TED talk kerfuffle.

Mystic William's avatar

I am appalled at this. First, that it was done. Second if Georgetown tries to sweep this under the rug every donor should pull funding. I have to think though, three white guys doing this? How soon would they be fired?