UK struggles to escape rule of Goodhart’s Law
https://www.reuters.com/commentary/breakingviews/uk-struggles-escape-rule-goodharts-law-2025-09-22
Felix Martin:
The failure of elected leaders to make good on their policy promises is the main fuel of the populist wildfire that has swept through liberal democracies for the last decade. In today’s intensely polarised era, it is tempting to blame incompetence, bad faith, and or even the enemy within, opens new tab.
The lesson of Goodhart’s Law is that the real culprit may be more mundane: all too often, data-driven policymaking is the disease for which it claims to be the cure.
https://www.reuters.com/commentary/breakingviews/uk-struggles-escape-rule-goodharts-law-2025-09-22
Felix Martin:
The failure of elected leaders to make good on their policy promises is the main fuel of the populist wildfire that has swept through liberal democracies for the last decade. In today’s intensely polarised era, it is tempting to blame incompetence, bad faith, and or even the enemy within, opens new tab.
The lesson of Goodhart’s Law is that the real culprit may be more mundane: all too often, data-driven policymaking is the disease for which it claims to be the cure.