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To: Robert Douglas who wrote (3254)	3/12/2002 1:06:40 PM
From: SofaSpud	Respond to of 3536

I had a professor in university who had had a job at a government statistical agency. He told the story of being in a meeting to review the upcoming GNP release. As you know, GNP (Gross National Product, the income approach) must by definition equal GNE (Gross National Expenditure). The senior official running the meeting was berating those assembled, because their estimates of GNP and GNE were different by a material amount. "This is completely unacceptable! How could you come up with figures like this!" Silence reined, until a voice at the back of the room spoke up, "Consumption is in for $100 million ..." ____________ That story, which he swore was true, was intended to leave us with suitable scepticism about government statistics. It worked for me, even before I went to work for government myself and saw how plausible the story really was.