The Excel formula that initiated austerity policies after the crisis

http://www.powerusersoftwares.com/#!The-Excel-formula-error-that-initiated-austerity-policies-after-the-crisis/biauv/57ac71d90cf2b496d76b6758

by Power-user • 10 years ago

10 4 10 years ago

powerusersoftwares.com

kjdal2001• 10 years ago

"For Excel users, this should be a good story to keep in mind before sharing results of an Excel model."

Shouldn't this be an argument for sharing your model before drawing conclusions and sharing those?

Also, maybe using Excel isn't a great idea for building models that will affect economic policy. Complex Excel sheets can be difficult to debug and version when compared to a more traditional programming language.

justinlardinois2• 10 years ago

Scientists are notoriously bad at sharing their source code, so I wouldn't be surprised if economists are bad at sharing their Excel spreadsheets.

As for Excel versus a programming language: I doubt most economists know any programming languages. Excel is almost universally known in finance and economics.

justinlardinois2• 10 years ago

In any case, the problem is that their research was cited a number of times by militants of budget cuts and a strict reduction of government debt, even US House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan.

I feel like this should also mention the man is Speaker of the House; if anything it strengthens the point.

maxerickson• 10 years ago

This is pretty blog spammy. The story played out very publicly at the time it happened. This Op-Ed by 2 of the UMass economists lays out roughly the same story:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/30/opinion/debt-and-growth-a-...

The Excel formula that initiated austerity policies after the crisis

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