Furthermore, I am not as pessimistic as some here with respect to the possibility of enhancing numeracy. Consider how monumental a task it is to ensure basic literacy. Yet that is possible. We do not today make an effort towards ensuring that the broad population possesses basic numeracy that is a fraction of the effort we make towards ensuring that the same people possess basic literacy.
- Jake If you only spend 20 minutes of the rest of your life on economics, go spend them here.
Furthermore, if somebody said 'Bill Gates is very rich - therefore all Americans are rich,' which is the rough plain-text equivalent of what these bozos in Svenskt Näringsliv did with their numbers, I am fairly confident that not only most newsies, but the majority of the general population would notice. And yes, their treatment is actually that bad.
Perhaps it is because there is less of a soft middle road with numbers - to some extend, you either get it or you don't. With text, OTOH, there's the middle road, where you know what it says but not what it means.
