[R] the joy of spreadsheets (off-topic)

[Nuri Jazairi]

Maurice Allais (1988 Nobel Laureate in Economics) once said something to 
the effect that economics can never be a science because it involves 
self-interest. *

* "It has been said that Euclid's theorem would have been bitterly
contested had its implications brought financial or political interests
into play. This is no exaggeration. One of the Roman emperors had the first
inventor of aluminum put to death because he considered the discovery
liable to injure certain vested interests. There is no other explanation
for the secular resistance to technical progress. In France the supply of
the first printed cotton garments cost the lives of thousands of people in
the 18th century, and in the 19th, the most active opponents of railway
development were the stagecoach drivers and owners. Recent history
confirms centuries of experience." (Maurice Allais: "Economics as a 
Science", Librairie Droz, Geneve 1968, page 19.)

Nuri

On Sat, 27 Apr 2013, Thomas Adams wrote:

> Pretty scary...
>
>
> On Sat, Apr 27, 2013 at 12:28 PM, Albyn Jones <jones at reed.edu> wrote:
>
>> I once had a discussion with an economist who told me
>> in almost these exact words:
>>
>> "I don't care what the data say, the theory is so clear".
>>
>> albyn
>>
>>
>> On 2013-04-26 9:30, William Dunlap wrote:
>>
>>> The prior for the incompetence/malice question is usually best set pretty
>>>> heavily in
>>>> favour of incompetence ...
>>>>
>>>
>>> The following comment on economic research is from a 2010 article in
>>> the Atlantic
>>> reviewing John Ioannidis' work.
>>>
>>> http://www.theatlantic.com/**magazine/print/2010/11/lies-**
>>> damned-lies-and-medical-**science/308269/<http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/print/2010/11/lies-damned-lies-and-medical-science/308269/>
>>>
>>>   "Medical research is not especially plagued with wrongness.
>>>    Other meta-research experts have confirmed that similar issues
>>>    distort research in all fields of science, from physics to economics
>>>    (where the highly regarded economists J. Bradford DeLong and
>>>    Kevin Lang once showed how a remarkably consistent paucity of
>>>    strong evidence in published economics studies made it unlikely
>>>    that any of them were right)."
>>>
>>> Bill Dunlap
>>> Spotfire, TIBCO Software
>>> wdunlap tibco.com
>>>
>>>
>>>  -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: r-help-bounces at r-project.org [mailto:r-help-bounces at r-**
>>>> project.org <r-help-bounces at r-project.org>] On Behalf
>>>> Of S Ellison
>>>> Sent: Friday, April 26, 2013 9:08 AM
>>>> To: Thomas Adams; peter dalgaard
>>>> Cc: r-help
>>>> Subject: Re: [R] the joy of spreadsheets (off-topic)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> One might wonder if the "Excel error" was indeed THAT or
>>>>> perhaps a way to get the desired results, give the other
>>>>> issues in their analysis?
>>>>
>>>> The prior for the incompetence/malice question is usually best set
>>>> pretty heavily in
>>>> favour of incompetence ...
>>>>
>>>> S
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ***********************************************************************
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>>>>
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>>
>> ______________________________**________________
>> R-help at r-project.org mailing list
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>>
>
>
>
> -- 
> Thomas E Adams, III
> 718 McBurney Drive
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