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Let me get this straight. It is hard to review, test and maintain code in Excel workbooks, so we should instead write custom software for these tasks?! Custom

Let me get this straight. It is hard to review, test and maintain code in Excel workbooks, so we should instead write custom software for these tasks?! Custom software is, to a non-hacker, the definition of "difficult to review, test, and maintain." You may as well suggest they input their data into a mystery box with some pixies inside who will crunch the numbers for them. :) Remember, Excel (and spreadsheets in general) ARE custom software, written for this exact need, and with decades of polish and bug-fixing so that even non-wizards can use them. I agree that we should not fly the space shuttle from an Excel macro. But I feel that suggesting economists should write software instead of use spreadsheets is not only throwing out the baby with the bathwater, but also throwing out the bathtub and the whole bathroom too. Specialty tools exist for this very use case. Let's discuss how to improve them instead of indulging our hacker instinct and reinventing a hammer every time we need to drive a nail.

wtbob 12y ago
> It is hard to review, test and maintain code in Excel workbooks, so we should instead write custom software for these tasks?! Well, maybe before we attempt to send men with guns to further deprive people of their property and liberty (which is, of course, the end goal of Piketty's work and advocacy of a global wealth task) we should determine whether or not his results are, y'know, true? I know, I know, truth is such an old-fashioned concept.
- was_hellbanned 12y ago
  What a stunningly off-topic, irrelevant comment.
  - wtbob 12y ago
    Ummm, my comment was on-topic, since if Piketty's arguments for wealth-confiscation depend upon his research; if his research is wrong, then his conclusions are likewise unsupported. And yes, when writing software we should use the appropriate tools for the task. If we're about to advocate the confiscation under force of a significant proportion of the world's wealth, then maybe--just maybe--we should use more complex, more expensive but more complex software development methods than 'bing into Excel and fiddle with the formulæ until they feel right.'

wtbob 12y ago

> It is hard to review, test and maintain code in Excel workbooks, so we should instead write custom software for these tasks?! Well, maybe before we attempt to send men with guns to further deprive people of their property and liberty (which is, of course, the end goal of Piketty's work and advocacy of a global wealth task) we should determine whether or not his results are, y'know, true? I know, I know, truth is such an old-fashioned concept.

was_hellbanned 12y ago
What a stunningly off-topic, irrelevant comment.
- wtbob 12y ago
  Ummm, my comment was on-topic, since if Piketty's arguments for wealth-confiscation depend upon his research; if his research is wrong, then his conclusions are likewise unsupported. And yes, when writing software we should use the appropriate tools for the task. If we're about to advocate the confiscation under force of a significant proportion of the world's wealth, then maybe--just maybe--we should use more complex, more expensive but more complex software development methods than 'bing into Excel and fiddle with the formulæ until they feel right.'