FiveThirtyEight is Here!

Well-kept Lawffice Space secret: my undergraduate major (Management Science and Information Systems, in the Penn State Smeal College of Business) focused heavily on statistical analysis. So, I was pretty excited to hear about Nate Silver's new "data driven" journalism project (he's the guy whose statistical models nailed all 50 states and DC this past presidential election).

His new ESPN-affiliated site launched today: FiveThirtyEight.com. I can already tell I'll love it. For an employment law tie-in, may I point you to: Three Rules to Make Sure Economic Data Aren't Bunk:

For example, for all the talk of constant turnover and the end of the “lifetime job,” Labor Department data show that Americans are actually spending longer with their employers than at any point in the past 30 years. The median “tenure” of a worker — how long the typical worker has been with the same employer — rose by 14 percent between 1983 and 2006, to four years from 3.5. When the recession hit, the trend accelerated, with median tenure hitting 4.4 years in 2010 and 4.6 years in 2012. As counterintuitive narratives go, it would be hard to beat, “Job security continues to rise.”

But let's get real, what you really want are their March Madness predictions, am I right? OK, here you go: FiveThirtyEight's NCAA Tournament Predictions. If you like numbers and data analysis (and who doesn't?), then check it out.