
The Excel formula that initiated austerity policies after the crisis - Power-user
http://www.powerusersoftwares.com/#!The-Excel-formula-error-that-initiated-austerity-policies-after-the-crisis/biauv/57ac71d90cf2b496d76b6758
======
kjdal2001
"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.

~~~
justinlardinois
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.

------
maxerickson
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-...](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/30/opinion/debt-and-growth-a-
response-to-reinhart-and-rogoff.html)

------
justinlardinois
> 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.

