The Bell Curve aims to establish a set of causal claims. I argue that the m
ethodology of The Bell Curve is typical of much of contemporary social scie
nce and is intrinsically defective. I claim better methods are available fo
r causal inference from observational data, but that those methods would yi
eld no causal conclusions from the data used in the formal analyses in The
Bell Curve. Against the laissez-faire social policies advocated in the book
, I claim that when combined with common sense and other information, the i
nformal data mustered in The Bell Curve support a range of "liberal" social
policies.