Because these news items often sound as if someone has decided the graph starts here and their one and only data point goes there and if they draw a straight line - it's a news story!
But it's the media, so silliness abounds.
- Jake If you only spend 20 minutes of the rest of your life on economics, go spend them here.
Why? Excel/VBA skills are in high demand for investment banking research jobs. A vivid image of what should exist acts as a surrogate for reality. Pursuit of the image then prevents pursuit of the reality -- John K. Galbraith
The journal Computational Statistics & Data Analysis has a whole special issue on the subject.
I am teaching a graduate course of ecologists and forestry students this year, where Xcel will be outlawed. I expect much wailing and gnashing of teeth, but I won't have it in my lab. Plus, gnuplot produces better graphics. Better than R (ducks)
Sometimes yes. Not all Govt institutions though but at least a small number I have come into contact with. Ad astra per aspera
