Whenever you encounter a statistic, it is always a good idea to ask the seemingly innocent question, \"is that big?\" Economists like to talk about this in terms of the difference between statistical significance and economic significance. Statistical significance is something we will discuss in depth throughout the course of the semester. For now it is enough to simply describe it as certainty that some statistic isn't the result of random chancein other words, how confident we are in the statistic. Economic significance asks the all-important question of \"so what?\" that we often just take for granted. In statistics, and in general, big numbers don't mean that a result is important, nor do small numbers mean that something is unimportant. Here are a handful of statistical results. Pick a couple of the statistics listed and argue whether or not you think those statistics are big numbers. What other data do you need to make your argument? 1. In 2005, Britain raised the age at which retirees can get public pensions from 65 to 67. One newspaper, the Daily Telegraph, argued that \"one in five who formerly would have lived long enough to receive a pension will now die before receiving a penny.\" Is one in five a big number? 2. In 1997 the British government created a program that would spend about 300M (roughly $600M) over the next five years. The goal of the program was to create a million new child care places at the child care centers around the country. Is 300M (or $600M) a lot of money? 3. In 1956, when DDT (a then common pesticide that was later banned in the US) was in widespread use, one study estimated that the average American adult consumed .2 milligrams of DDT per day. Is .2 milligrams a lot? 4. Scientists have discovered what they call the MS (multiple sclerosis) gene. This gene is present in 87 percent of the people who have MS. Is this a big number? 5. Following the introduction of the 55mph speed limit in 1973, traffic fatalities per million miles driven fell an average of 3% per year over the next 10 years. Is this a big number? 6. The Karolinska Institute in Sweden issued a report in 2004 that suggested that long-term use of mobile phones is associated with a higher risk of a brain tumor known as acoustic neuroma. Long-term mobile phone use increased people's chances of contracting this tumor by 100%. Is this a big number