This paper explores one example of an international comparison -- the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) -- in order to investigate the power of numbers in both the shaping and the legitimisation of adult literacy policy using Scotland as a case study. It is argued that policy implementation is framed by a common assumption that the production of knowledge will increase global competitiveness leading to the prioritisation of economic objectives in education. However, despite these globalising strategies, examples are provided of how the economic discourse can be resisted, to some extent, through prioritising more social objectives at both the local and state levels.