Some personal news
> It’s not just that I think these models have a lot of journalistic value<p>...do they, though?<p>I'm actually not so convinced in the journalistic value of FiveThirtyEight. It's something I've thought about before.<p>FiveThirtyEight's political forecasts absolutely provide a desirable <i>service!</i> Who <i>doesn't</i> want to know who will win an upcoming election?<p>But is it <i>good</i> for people to know who is more likely to win an election? Are these predictions beneficial to society or democracy? I sometimes think they may actually be harmful, decreasing voter turnout by convincing people (correctly or incorrectly) that the result is preordained.<p>That's not to say Nate Silver is doing anything <i>wrong</i> by making FiveThirtyEight available, but he tends to talk about it as a sort of public good. I'm not sure whether that's accurate.