Friday, October 30, 2009

Significant Digits

I find it interesting that the Congressional Budget Office's House health care bill budget estimate was posted to four significant digits ($1.055 Trillion dollars) even though CBO Director Doug Elmendorf, in a Thursday letter to House Democratic Chairmen, cautioned that his estimates are preliminary and "subject to substantial uncertainty."

Why is that so?

Could it be that the "estimate" looks better as $1.055 trillion when reported in the press than $1.1 trillion?

I guess these days, what's a few hundred billion dollars among friends?

-Wes

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