Random Factor News Today

How do random events impact the bigger events in our lives and the history of the world?

This statistical technique utilizes the variance in skill, chance and outcome to estimate the relative importance of skills versus chance in determining…

Chance and luck play a far bigger role in our lives than any of us know, argues Washington University in St. Louis Professor Mark Rank in his new book, "The Random Factor: How Chance and Luck Profoundly Shape Our Lives and the World around Us."

Sometimes history is shaped by monumental forces. Sometimes history is shaped by chance and luck. In the 1970s, Phyllis Schlafly played a pivotal role in defeating the Equal Rights Amendment.

Mark R. Rank is the Herbert S. Hadley Professor of Social Welfare at Washington University in St. Louis. He is the author of the forthcoming book, The Random…

How well we do economically? Turns out that a significant part of the answer has to do with luck

A plan to expand the child tax credit would go a long way in reducing childhood poverty in America, saving billions in future costs, says an expert on poverty and inequality at Washington University in St. Louis.

A plan to expand the child tax credit would go a long way in reducing childhood poverty in America, saving billions in future costs, says an expert on poverty a

A plan to expand the child tax credit would go a long way in reducing childhood poverty in America, saving billions in future costs, says an expert on poverty a