re: "numbers are a crocks of sh...t."
You might enjoy this story:
I worked for several years for the government, in a village on the northwest coast of Alaska. One year, they barged up some new houses for us. When I asked what the rent was going to be, and how it was calculated, I was told:
"We base it on the cost of equivalent housing in the community"
I said: "There is no housing market here, nothing equivalent can be rented or bought, that's the reason why you guys are building housing."
"That's right. So we use rental numbers from the closest community for which there are reliable statistics. That would be Fairbanks."
"But Fairbanks is 500 miles away."
"Right. So, obviously, costs are going to be different."
"Obviously."
"So, we have this formula, we plug in the cost of renting in Fairbanks, and add to that a fraction of the miles from Fairbanks to here. There are some other variables, too, that go into it."
"How is that fair?"
"Well, it isn't, and the number that came out when they did their calculations was absurd, so they thought about it, and cut 40% off the number, and that's your rent."
"Why 40%? Why not 50%, or 30%?"
"Well, I guess that's just what seemed about right to them."
"And where are the people who are deciding this?"
"I'm not sure. I think it's a committee at headquarters, in Rockville, Maryland."
"That's about 4000 miles from here. Have any of them ever visited here?"
"Probably not. I don't even know who they are. The report is just signed "housing committee", no names." |
