Date: Mon, 6 Dec 1999 19:22:10 -0800
Reply-To: "William W. Viergever" <wwvierg@IBM.NET>
Sender: "SAS(r) Discussion" <SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From: "William W. Viergever" <wwvierg@IBM.NET>
Subject: Re: When large number of significant digits may be required
In-Reply-To: <001EE43A.C21292@westat.com>
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Watch it it buddy! (latent economist here <g>)
If it was (or was Von Neuman?), then it surely was back in the days of national budgets in the half trillion dollar range; hence today's variance would be much higher!
And Sig, given the below, wouldn't you agree that "social science" is an oxymoron? <vbg>
Later
At 12:35 AM 12/06/1999 -0500, Hermans1 wrote:
><I make no claims for whether or not the reporting requirements
><for some kinds of international economics documents make
><much sense; that's their business.
>
><We're accustomed to getting into significant digit trouble
><when inverting matrices - these unlucky folks have trouble
><when only adding and subtracting!
>
><Phil Gallagher
>
>
> Was it Oskar Morgenstern in On the Accuracy of Economic
> Observations who estimated that results of calculations of the US
> national debt have a level of precision at no better than the
> $100,000. level? I contend that statisticians and programmers
> have an obligation to resist pointless, misleading, and wasteful
> pretense of precision. Sig
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