news
Exploring the financial ecosystem
Deciding who is to blame and who should pay for the financial crisis will be a hot topic at the G8 next week. Financial mathematics received a lot of bad press in the aftermath of the crunch and many believe that it was the popularity of mathematical models – often borrowed from physics — that put the financial system at risk. But now models borrowed from biology are helping us understand how this risk might be reduced.
news
Taking the pandemic temperature
How do people in different countries feel about the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures taken by their governments?
article
Rogue trading?
The dangers of trading derivatives have been well-known ever since they were catapulted into the public eye by the spectacular losses of Nick Leeson and Barings Bank. John Dickson explains what derivatives are, and how they can be both risky, and used to reduce risk.
blog
Queen's Birthday Honours for David Spiegelhalter and Helen Mason
Congratulations to Plus contributors David Spiegelhalter and Helen Mason, who join Maggie Smith, Angelina Jolie and Daniel Day-Lewis in the 2014 Queen's Birthday Honours list!
article
The best medicine?
To make hard decisions, you need hard facts. Medical statistics can help us to decide what treatment to look for when we are ill, and to estimate our chances of recovery.