Stossel the Fool

Townhall.com ^ | November 16 | John Stossel

[Kaslin]

,/center>

I was so dumb last week.

I wrote my column Tuesday -- before election results were in. I assumed Hillary Clinton would be president-elect.

I looked so stupid.

On Facebook, commenters pounced: You owe Trump an apology! I'm sorry for the lies you continued about him! You were never fair! You're nothing but another left-wing mouthpiece. You're a washed up, anti-American gutless TV host!

I was wrong because I trusted the bettors.

That's usually not dumb. The best predictor of things has been betting markets. They are more accurate because they reflect the wisdom of crowds. Crowds can be an ignorant mob, but crowds do have wisdom. Know the TV show "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire"?

When contestants are stumped, they may ask the audience for help or an expert. The experts are often brilliant specialists. The audience -- well, they are the kind of people who wait in line in the rain to watch a game show. Still, the audience gets the answer right 91 percent of the time, the experts succeed just 65 percent of the time.

With betting markets, the crowd is made up of people willing to put their money where their mouths are. That makes them extra careful.

Most of these "prediction markets" are based overseas because, useful as they are, American law calls them "illegal gambling."

So producer Maxim Lott and I converted European betting into an easy to understand website, Electionbettingodds.com, and I've come to trust it. Again and again, betting is more accurate than pundits and polls -- until this election.

I'm not the only one who got it wrong. The Huffington Post's statistical model gave Clinton a 98 percent chance of winning. The prestigious Princeton Election Consortium gave Clinton a 99 percent chance.

People just lie to pollsters when they think the pollster will sneer at them if they say they're voting for someone smugly described as racist and sexist.

This was the second time this year that betting markets were wrong. Most bettors thought Brexit would never happen -- people in Britain would vote to stay in the European Union. Again, British voters lied to pollsters because they were embarrassed to admit they would vote for Brexit after months of the elite telling them they were xenophobes and racists if they wanted a change.

Relying on the betting markets, I also wrote that it was sad that freedom-loving senators like Wisconsin's Ron Johnson lost to command-and-control bureaucrats like Russ Feingold.

Oops, wrong again.

But the prediction markets are right most of the time.

Consider what happened early in this year's Republican primary. Ben Carson surged to first place in polls, but the bettors knew better. They never gave him more than a 9 percent chance. In 2012, when Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich and then Herman Cain surged to first place in polls, prediction markets correctly said Mitt Romney will win. In 2008, bettors correctly predicted results in every state but two. In 2012, it was every state but one.

The markets even predicted when Saddam Hussein would be captured. Right before his hideout was found, the odds on that date tripled in price. Somehow, people with skin in the game pay more attention and intuit the right outcome.

Even last week, when bettors were wrong, the betting odds still adjusted faster than pundits on TV did. The bettors saw what was happening and quickly hedged their bets, while many in the media -- mostly Clinton supporters -- still clung to their failed expectations.

My failure won't make me abandon prediction markets and go back to trusting pundits or opinion polls -- or internet commenters who had fun trashing me:

"Dewey beats Truman ... oh wait."

"I can't laugh enough at this article."

"I liked Stossel ... but he is as clueless as the liberal media."

I sure was! But I will still trust prediction markets over everything else.

There is wisdom in crowds, especially crowds that put their own money on the line.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Always liked the guy. That was some classy crow-eating, IMHO.

[uncitizen]

Stossel being a fool ain’t news.

[Pete]

This story is bizarre. What point is he trying to make?

[arl295]

That he is an idiot and always has been one

[linear]

He is failing to distinguish between crowds and data.

[econjack]

I think the polls got it wrong because those who knew they would vote for Trump wouldn’t tell anyone for fear of the flack they would get by the admission. Driving around here, I was amazed at the Trump yard signs I saw given that sentiment. However, I also noted that I saw only 2 Hillary yard signs. Given all that, I would have bet the farm on OH at least going for Trump and perhaps winning it all.

[\/\/ayne]

When he’s right, he’s fantastic. When he’s wrong, he’s usually not just mistaken but stupendously wrong.

[jiggyboy]

Actually, I think “the bettors”, in number, were much more numerous for Trump — just like “Leave” had more small bets in England in June.

[ari-freedom]

I wonder how much money was lost by these bettors

[Kaslin]

I hope a lot.

[Red Badger]

There is wisdom in crowds, especially crowds that put their own money on the line.

There is wisdom in crowds, especially crowds that put their own VOTES on the line. And we did....................

[ChuteTheMall]

What a moron, still trying to get us to gamble on his stupid overseas website.

Clueless, pompous, self-righteous and smug Libertarian used to be a passable consumer reporter; he should go back to finding defective toasters or whatever.

[MrEdd]

He succeeded.

[going hot]

That he bet on the wrong horse.

[Kaslin]

Darn I forgot to close the center tag. Grrr

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

Easier to read:

I was so dumb last week.
I wrote my column Tuesday — before election results were in. I assumed Hillary Clinton would be president-elect.
I looked so stupid.

On Facebook, commenters pounced: You owe Trump an apology! I’m sorry for the lies you continued about him! You were never fair! You’re nothing but another left-wing mouthpiece. You’re a washed up, anti-American gutless TV host!

I was wrong because I trusted the bettors.

That’s usually not dumb. The best predictor of things has been betting markets. They are more accurate because they reflect the wisdom of crowds. Crowds can be an ignorant mob, but crowds do have wisdom. Know the TV show “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire”?

When contestants are stumped, they may ask the audience for help or an expert. The experts are often brilliant specialists. The audience — well, they are the kind of people who wait in line in the rain to watch a game show. Still, the audience gets the answer right 91 percent of the time, the experts succeed just 65 percent of the time.

With betting markets, the crowd is made up of people willing to put their money where their mouths are. That makes them extra careful.

Most of these “prediction markets” are based overseas because, useful as they are, American law calls them “illegal gambling.”

So producer Maxim Lott and I converted European betting into an easy to understand website, Electionbettingodds.com, and I’ve come to trust it. Again and again, betting is more accurate than pundits and polls — until this election.

I’m not the only one who got it wrong. The Huffington Post’s statistical model gave Clinton a 98 percent chance of winning. The prestigious Princeton Election Consortium gave Clinton a 99 percent chance.

People just lie to pollsters when they think the pollster will sneer at them if they say they’re voting for someone smugly described as racist and sexist.

This was the second time this year that betting markets were wrong. Most bettors thought Brexit would never happen — people in Britain would vote to stay in the European Union. Again, British voters lied to pollsters because they were embarrassed to admit they would vote for Brexit after months of the elite telling them they were xenophobes and racists if they wanted a change.

Relying on the betting markets, I also wrote that it was sad that freedom-loving senators like Wisconsin’s Ron Johnson lost to command-and-control bureaucrats like Russ Feingold.

Oops, wrong again.

But the prediction markets are right most of the time.

Consider what happened early in this year’s Republican primary. Ben Carson surged to first place in polls, but the bettors knew better. They never gave him more than a 9 percent chance. In 2012, when Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich and then Herman Cain surged to first place in polls, prediction markets correctly said Mitt Romney will win. In 2008, bettors correctly predicted results in every state but two. In 2012, it was every state but one.

The markets even predicted when Saddam Hussein would be captured. Right before his hideout was found, the odds on that date tripled in price. Somehow, people with skin in the game pay more attention and intuit the right outcome.

Even last week, when bettors were wrong, the betting odds still adjusted faster than pundits on TV did. The bettors saw what was happening and quickly hedged their bets, while many in the media — mostly Clinton supporters — still clung to their failed expectations.

My failure won’t make me abandon prediction markets and go back to trusting pundits or opinion polls — or internet commenters who had fun trashing me:

“Dewey beats Truman ... oh wait.”

“I can’t laugh enough at this article.”

“I liked Stossel ... but he is as clueless as the liberal media.”

I sure was! But I will still trust prediction markets over everything else.

There is wisdom in crowds, especially crowds that put their own money on the line.

[Kaslin]

He’s my favorite libertarian.

[9YearLurker]

Seems like pretty defensive lack of acknowledgment of his error to me.

[AC86UT89]

Betting markets are fallible. They are an interesting data point but I wouldn’t bet the ranch on them.

I smile when I hear the pundits describe the election results as “shocking”. By election day even the most biased, rigged polls had Trump losing but within the margin of error. By definition that suggests the poll is basically tied.

After polls were wrong on Brexit, Netanyahu, and the Colombian peace referendum, one should have been open to the possibility that they would be wrong again this time. It sounds like this possibility was not even considered by the Clinton campaign. That’s what’s shocking.

Even Nate Silver was open to the possibility of a “hidden” Trump vote and in the couple of days leading up to election day he was flamed for suggesting the possibility of a narrow Trump win.

Several polls including IBD and LA Times showed a tie or slight Trump lead before election day. These polls were among the most accurate in recent elections but were dismissed and ridiculed by the MSM and competing polling outfits.

This level of “herding” in the punditry and polling industry needs to be addressed. One big takeaway is that the MSM and their polling allies should not be trusted in the future. I will just assume that anything they say is wrong or a lie from now on.