Freedom in Numbers
More or Less
BBC
4.6 • 3.7K Ratings
🗓️ 5 April 2014
⏱️ 10 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
How many people in the world live in freedom? The BBC's Freedom 2014 season got Tim Harford and the More or Less team wondering about this. It's actually pretty hard to put a number on freedom, so Tim begins by looking at something more quantifiable: how many people live in a democracy? And are people in democracies happier? Tim Harford looks at the numbers with Simon Baptist from the Economist Intelligence Unit. Plus, he examines the price of a cup of coffee, and whether Ruth Alexander can be persuaded to pay for his. This programme was first broadcast live on the BBC World Service on 01 April 2014 from the Media Café at BBC New Broadcasting House in London.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:04.7 | My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:08.5 | As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices. |
| 0:18.0 | What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars, |
| 0:24.6 | poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples. |
| 0:29.7 | If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds. |
| 0:36.0 | This is the short edition of More or Less, first broadcast on the BBC World Service. |
| 0:42.0 | Thank you for downloading from the BBC. |
| 0:45.0 | The details of our complete range of podcasts and our terms of use, go to BBCworldservice.com |
| 0:51.0 | slash podcasts. World Service. |
| 0:57.0 | The Numbers Program on the BBC World Service. |
| 1:00.0 | This week we bring you an addition of the program that was first broadcast live as part of the BBC's Freedom season with Tim Harford. |
| 1:08.0 | The BBC's Freedom Season got us wondering about how many people in the world live in freedom and how many don't. |
| 1:15.6 | We'll be looking at that in a few minutes, but first we're broadcasting live from the BBC |
| 1:20.1 | Media Cafe in London, so there's the small matter of persuading Ruth |
| 1:24.5 | Alexander to pay for my coffee. Tim I'd rather assume that is the gentleman you are |
| 1:29.7 | you'd be footing the bill. Well I am a gentleman but I'm also an economist so no. |
| 1:34.1 | But I'll tell you what we're drinking medium-sized cappuccinos they cost 2 pound 35 |
| 1:39.6 | each that's about $3.90 so how about I pay for the cost of the coffee and the |
| 1:45.1 | milk in the drinks and all you have to do is pay for the rest. Is that okay? |
| 1:48.6 | Well as you're an economist there's got to be a catch so I bet the coffee and the milk |
| 1:54.4 | only accounts for what about half the price of this drink oh no no no nothing like that in |
... |
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