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Why You Shouldn't Use Spreadsheets For Important Work

Posted by Soulskill on from the they'll-throw-you-in-a-cell dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Computer science professor Daniel Lemire explains why spreadsheets shouldn't be used for important work, especially where dedicated software could do a better job. His post comes in response to evaluations of a new economics tome by Thomas Piketty, a book that is likely to be influential for years to come. Lemire writes, 'Unfortunately, like too many people, Piketty used spreadsheets instead of writing sane software. On the plus side, he published his code ... on the negative side, it appears that Piketty's code contains mistakes, fudging and other problems. ... Simply put, spreadsheets are good for quick and dirty work, but they are not designed for serious and reliable work. ... Spreadsheets make code review difficult. The code is hidden away in dozens if not hundreds of little cells If you are not reviewing your code carefully and if you make it difficult for others to review it, how do expect it to be reliable?'"

44 of 422 comments (clear)

  1. What he's really saying is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "I don't know how to use spread sheets properly."

    1. Re:What he's really saying is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      To be fair, neither to the vast majority of people who use spreadsheets for important work.

    2. Re:What he's really saying is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Disagree. I think what he's really saying is "I've had to maintain and develop tools made by people that don't know how to use spreadsheets properly, and I'm fucking sick of it."

    3. Re:What he's really saying is by Tyler+Durden · · Score: 5, Funny

      I know exactly how to use spreadsheets properly. Just don't.

      --
      Happy people make bad consumers.
    4. Re:What he's really saying is by geekoid · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It needs restating because people forget it all the time.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    5. Re: What he's really saying is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Most people have no idea how to use a relational database.

    6. Re:What he's really saying is by jd2112 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "I don't know how to use spread sheets properly."

      Or, I realize that just because I have a hammer not all problems are nails.

      --
      Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.
    7. Re:What he's really saying is by jythie · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Eh, I think it can be legitimately argued that spreadsheets are a bad place to do complex things. Even people who are skilled at setting them up produce work that is difficult to examine and track. In many ways it is a technology that it still stuck in the 80s, even though they keep throwing in more and more complex functionality, but the method of storing and organizing the logic is dated in a bad (rather then proven) way.

      Even teaching students matlab would probably be an improvement, but excel is what they default to teaching anyone outside math and CS, building all the coursework around it.

    8. Re:What he's really saying is by Giant+Electronic+Bra · · Score: 4, Funny

      No kidding. Also, it MAY not be that easy to review the code in a spreadsheet, but it is VERY VERY EASY to test it. If you want reliable spreadsheets its PERFECTLY possible to test them to the Nth degree, far more so than with most other code. You have a place to put the tests, and a place to put the expected results, its all rather devilishly simple actually. For that matter you can document the bejeezus out of them too.

      I think spreadsheets are like any sort of simple interpreted language. Idiots can easily blow their left foot off. Real software engineers can also do some very cool stuff. Most of the perl code I've seen is ugly as all hell and pretty worthless, but MY perl code is a thing of beauty that people maintain for years. Its all in how you use the tool.

      --
      "Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem." -- Jefferson
    9. Re:What he's really saying is by jythie · · Score: 3, Interesting

      To be fair, they have their place. They are excellent tools for creating a table of data with a chart that can be emailed to other people and read.

      Sadly, one of the big selling points for spreadsheets is their application. Pretty much any computer being used for work will have something that can read and display excel spreadsheets, you can send one to anyone and not have to worry about what they have installed. Then again you can get the same level of compatibility by outputting PDFs from matlab or something slightly saner like that....

    10. Re: What he's really saying is by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 4, Interesting
      Just got back from a meeting where I was explaining relational databases. No one really got it, but the Excel expert thought I was full of shit.

      Well, I sort of am, but not for that reason.

      There is nothing worse than trying to get a spreadsheet person up and running on relational databases. They argue with you about every point, then they freak.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    11. Re:What he's really saying is by ClickOnThis · · Score: 3, Insightful

      you can send one to anyone and not have to worry about what they have installed

      Except that they need to be running Windows or Mac, with Microsoft Office installed.

      Actually, LibreOffice/OpenOffice are pretty good at importing and exporting .xls and .xlsx. And considering how incredibly obfuscated^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H complicated the MS OOXML standard is, I'd say that's quite an accomplishment.

      You can even import .ods in MS Excel, if you have the relevant plugins installed.

      That said, I agree with TFA: don't go overboard with fancy spreadsheets. Keep them simple, for the sake of your own mental health and that of your co-workers.

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
    12. Re:What he's really saying is by Coeurderoy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      No, what he is saying is that it is easy to "write" sloppy code for excel and hard to write good code.
      And even harder to review it.

      It's similar to the reason a) people moved away from basic, and b) basic evolved to be (duck, please no flame) almost usable (I still do not like it, but recognize that it is possible to write usable code in visual basic).

      If you want to criticizes him, picking on Piketty is VERY political, "excel" errors are galore in neocon publications, but of course the FT did not find anything not to love there, but saying that just maybe having a small group of people siphoning off all the cash from society is not sustainable for ever does make them nervous and very desirous to find some scab to pick at...

      Nevertheless he is right, it would be very good if decision makers would be able to "read the numbers" and not just "massage the numbers".
      Something like R or ADaMSoft would drive you to test ideas on datasets and learn from them whereas excel (or calc :)) have a tendency to get you to fiddle the numbers until the taxman aherm the reader sees what you would like them to see...

    13. Re: What he's really saying is by meglon · · Score: 3, Informative

      There is nothing worse than trying to get a spreadsheet person up and running on relational databases. They argue with you about every point, then they freak.

      Sure there is... there's trying to get a db user to understand spreadsheets. How many times have i told you, the right tool for the right job (watch out for that low hanging pipe! ..... nevermind....).

      --
      Fascism: An authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization. See also: NAZI's
    14. Re:What he's really saying is by lonecrow · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Spreadsheets are just a part of the Darwinism of applications. Some sharp fellow within an organization things its important to start tracking some data point or another. Maybe it gets ignored and forgotten. Other times it grows as other people see its utility and start making requests to track related data points. Eventually you get a multi-worksheet or even multi-workbook spreadsheet masquerading as an application. At some point it becomes far to hard to maintain or understand so they contract out someone like me who moves it to a relational database with a web front end. Everyone is happy!

      This work forms a major part of my work load don't fuck with it!

      Also, it is appropriate. It would be inefficient to develop a proper relational database application on the whim that some set of data points might be useful. Spreadsheets are a proving ground, and important stage in the life cycle of an application.

  2. Spreadsheets - best and worst thing there is by BeerCat · · Score: 3, Funny

    Spreadsheets are like a blank piece of paper with grid squares. Which means you can put anything down, tied together with some formulae, and it's brilliant.

    Which is also why it's complete pants - the "anything goes" really does mean that.

    (That, and it will tend to break when you most rely on it)

    --
    "She's furniture with a pulse"
    1. Re:Spreadsheets - best and worst thing there is by plover · · Score: 5, Informative

      What people fail to realize is that spreadsheets are like any other form of programming, and therefore should be treated as such. Write tests. Break complex formulas down into named cells. Use references to carry concepts. Beware of globals. Keep small concepts small, simple, and modular. Write more tests.

      Does anybody do that with every spreadsheet they write? Doubtful. I know I only go to all that trouble myself when I have a boatload of inputs that have to get put together. I usually discover about part way in that the sheet is going to be complex enough to need tests. When I do, it's time to start refactoring it, and these are my general steps:

      1. Give cells and ranges meaningful names
      2. Break complex formulas down to several small formulas
      3. Add tests for the formulas
      4. Factor out duplicates

      Of all of these, giving cells and ranges names is the most important, because it makes the sheets readable. I can then usually understand the results well enough to know if my formulas are working, but a complex formula often needs an independent set of tests to prove the discontinuities in the functions are actually where I think they should be.

      --
      John
    2. Re:Spreadsheets - best and worst thing there is by Boronx · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Spread sheets are such awesome tools that they allow non-programmers to create the same problems that noob programmers do while writing code.

      --
      Play Command HQ online
  3. So what's the alternative? by Cyberax · · Score: 5, Interesting

    So what's the alternative? There are no good and easy to use software packages to create simple data-intensive apps. The closest alternative was VB6 and if I had to chose between it and Excel, I'd choose Excel any day of the week.

  4. Not "important work" by LordLucless · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's not "spreadsheets shouldn't be used for important work", it's "spreadsheets should not be used for work that's not suitable for spreadsheets". Tools for the job, and all that.

    --
    Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
  5. Code reviewing a spreadsheet by muhula · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If the inability to code review spreadsheets was a real issue, it wouldn't be too hard to convert spreadsheet functions into a functional language. For non-programmers, a spreadsheet lowers the barrier to entry. This allows people to do something useful and productive who couldn't do so otherwise. That's a good thing.

    1. Re:Code reviewing a spreadsheet by geekoid · · Score: 4, Insightful

      For non programmers modern spread sheet give the user rope, with a noose already premade and a map on where to put your head.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  6. Another major issues with spreadsheets by mann17 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Another major issues with spreadsheets is that they don't handle data typing issues very well. For example, if you try to add a list of numbers, and somewhere in the list you have a number encoded as text, instead of throwing an error, it won't be included in the sum. Errors should never pass silently. Unless explicitly silenced.

  7. Spreadsheets as a software development platform? by Virtucon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You're doing it wrong.

    --
    Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
  8. Re:"spreadsheets" = computation program by geekoid · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Maybe you should read it again?
    His real criticizm is that spreadsheet software is horrible for any high end work, or with anything you want to share, and he is correct.

    "so he probably doesn't know how to use the interface of a spreadsheet very well, which makes the act of checking a formula tedious..."
    it is tedious, even if you are an expert and even if the user uses goof practices.

    "P-hacking is the problem in social science/economics research, not using 'spreadsheets'"
    I don't think you know what P-Hacking is.

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  9. Piketty's work will be done for him by matbury · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The fact that Piketty's work describes a damning indictement of the USA's most cherished concept - free market capitalism - means that thousands of neo-liberal economists will pour over every single digit and operator in his spreadsheets looking for anything to negate the findings. If they can't find anything, they'll attack him. When you hear of character attacks against Piketty or some other diversionary tactic, you'll know his data is correct.

    1. Re:Piketty's work will be done for him by timeOday · · Score: 3

      Heh. They should just teach Econ 101, Physics 101, and Evolutionary Theory in Kindergarden and then quit while the students are at the peak of explanatory power, with everything seeming so nice and simple.

  10. Re:Spreadsheets as a software development platform by preaction · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Tell that to the entire finance and insurance industry.

  11. You can't audit spreadsheets by swm · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I figured this out twenty-mumble years ago.
    I was doing data analysis in spreadsheets, and realized that I had no way to audit them.
    The data and the analysis were all just...there...in the spreadsheet.

    As soon as I got a grip on my data, I changed over to C programs that I could test, and document, and validate, and run at any time to demonstrate that input X generated output Y.

  12. Some things stick by TapeCutter · · Score: 5, Informative

    I recall a survey of (non-trivial) corporate spreadsheets in the mid-90's, it went something like 95% had a maths bug, in 80% of cases the bug made the sheet useless, 50% of the spreadsheets were used to make (incorrect) financial decisions. The reason why corporations coffers don't evaporate is that they use thousands of them so the +/-ve affect on the money buffer has a central limit of zero. It's a much more precarious situation if you using a single homespun spreadsheet to run a corner store

    --
    And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
    1. Re:Some things stick by viperidaenz · · Score: 5, Funny

      Were the survey results collated on a spreadsheet?

    2. Re:Some things stick by peragrin · · Score: 4, Funny

      nope Access Database.

      now which is scarier?

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    3. Re:Some things stick by timeOday · · Score: 5, Insightful
      The question is whether having the logic squirreled away in code or a DB would have made it more correct, which is a big assumption!

      I really think Piketty deserves a lot of credit for releasing his "source" spreadsheets on such a substantive and controversial work. Most authors do not. If the critiques turn out to be substantial and extensive, I plan on waiting for a second edition with corrections before investing time in reading it.

    4. Re:Some things stick by timeOday · · Score: 3, Informative

      Basically impossible to audit? This article is about the Financial Times' audit of the spreadsheet.

    5. Re:Some things stick by Sarten-X · · Score: 5, Informative

      I've done audits on spreadsheets. They're not terribly difficult, and I dare say they're easier than many of the code reviews I've been through.

      The most important thing is to understand how to use the spreadsheets. Either use separate worksheets for each major step in the calculation, or at least separate the computations using extra blank space. That serves the same function as code blocks, breaking up the computation into smaller, more manageable, pieces. Each small piece can be audited separately, and it provides a clear trail of how one number becomes another.

      Next, use your formatting, even if it's not in a worksheet ever intended for public viewing. I'm particularly a fan of using conditional formatting to highlight the cells in a sheet (especially minimums and maximums) that will be passed on to the next worksheet. Then it's easy to check that the correct values are being passed, and the intermediate values all make sense.

      Finally, use your fill tools correctly to ensure that the same computation is being applied to all cells. You should be able to audit the top of your worksheet and fill down to the bottom, without any formatting or visual elements getting in the way, and know that the whole worksheet is correct. When reviewing an old worksheet, note that Excel will highlight (with a green corner mark, as I recall) cells that don't fit the pattern.

      Finally, remember that writing an algorithm for a spreadsheet has some of the same pitfalls as any other implementation. Double-check any function of which you're not certain the parameters. Put comments in non-obvious areas. Don't be too clever, and of course, if someone else can't understand your brilliance, you're not being brilliant.

      --
      You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
  13. Re:Spreadsheets as a software development platform by Virtucon · · Score: 3, Funny

    is that why we're fucked?

    --
    Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
  14. A Formula only an Actuary could Love by turp182 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    There are no corporate secrets below, but I stumbled upon this formula in an actuarial spreadsheet (I'm a developer with an actuarial education).

    The only way this logic could be verified is by breaking the single formula into 20+ different cells with more simple calculations.

    And of course it is in several thousand cells, bringing any computer at all to its knees during calculation.

    A good example of how not to use Excel (but the actuaries don't have access to IT prototyping or core development).

    =IF(F6="050",tiers!$D$21+IF(AND(F6="050",OR(E6="W",E6="X")),tiers!$D$29-tiers!$D$26+VLOOKUP("N"&100&VLOOKUP(L6,tiers!$B$38:$C$49,2,0)&"N/A"&M6/12&"/"&N6&"0-"&R6/1000&C6*1,tiers!$L$2:$W$20969,12,0),IF(OR(E6="W",E6="X"),VLOOKUP("N"&F6*1&VLOOKUP(L6,tiers!$B$38:$C$49,2,0)&"N/A"&M6/12&"/"&N6&"0-"&R6/1000&C6*1,tiers!$L$2:$W$20969,12,0),IF(AND(F6="050",E6="P",M6=36,N6=60),tiers!$D$29-tiers!$D$26+VLOOKUP("E"&100&VLOOKUP(L6,tiers!$B$52:$C$55,2,0)&"N/A"&M6&"/"&N6&VLOOKUP(R6,tiers!$B$57:$C$59,2,0)&C6*1,tiers!$L$2:$W$20969,12,0),IF(AND(E6="P",M6=36,N6=60),VLOOKUP("E"&F6*1&VLOOKUP(L6,tiers!$B$52:$C$55,2,0)&"N/A"&M6&"/"&N6&VLOOKUP(R6,tiers!$B$57:$C$59,2,0)&C6*1,tiers!$L$2:$W$20969,12,0),IF(AND(F6="050",E6="P"),tiers!$D$29-tiers!$D$26+VLOOKUP("E"&100&VLOOKUP(L6,tiers!$B$52:$C$55,2,0)&"N/A"&M6/12&"/"&N6&VLOOKUP(R6,tiers!$B$57:$C$59,2,0)&C6*1,tiers!$L$2:$W$20969,12,0),IF(E6="P",VLOOKUP("E"&F6*1&VLOOKUP(L6,tiers!$B$52:$C$55,2,0)&"N/A"&M6/12&"/"&N6&VLOOKUP(R6,tiers!$B$57:$C$59,2,0)&C6*1,tiers!$L$2:$W$20969,12,0),IF(AND(F6="050",E6="*",M6=6),tiers!$D$29-tiers!$D$26+VLOOKUP(B6&100&VLOOKUP(L6,tiers!$B$38:$C$49,2,0)&IF(Q6=48,"0-4","6-10")&M6&"/"&N6&"0-100"&C6*1,tiers!$L$2:$W$20969,12,0),IF(AND(E6="*",M6=6),VLOOKUP(B6&F6*1&VLOOKUP(L6,tiers!$B$38:$C$49,2,0)&IF(OR(L6="PPH08",L6="PTH08"),"0-9",IF(Q6=48,"0-4","6-10"))&M6&"/"&N6&IF(R6=125000,"100-125","0-100")&C6*1,tiers!$L$2:$W$20969,12,0),IF(AND(F6="050",E6="*"),tiers!$D$29-tiers!$D$26+VLOOKUP(B6&100&VLOOKUP(L6,tiers!$B$38:$C$49,2,0)&IF(OR(L6="PPH08",L6="PTH08"),"0-9",IF(Q6=48,"0-4","6-10"))&M6&"/"&N6&IF(AND(OR(L6="PPH08",L6="PTH08"),R6=100000),"0-100",VLOOKUP(R6,tiers!$B$64:$C$70,2,0))&C6*1,tiers!$L$2:$W$20969,12,0),IF(E6="*",VLOOKUP(B6&F6*1&VLOOKUP(L6,tiers!$B$38:$C$49,2,0)&IF(OR(L6="PPH08",L6="PTH08"),"0-9",IF(Q6=48,"0-4","6-10"))&M6&"/"&N6&IF(AND(OR(L6="PPH08",L6="PTH08"),R6=100000),"0-100",VLOOKUP(R6,tiers!$B$64:$C$70,2,0))&C6*1,tiers!$L$2:$W$20969,12,0),"ERROR")))))))))),IF(AND(F6="050",OR(E6="W",E6="X")),tiers!$D$29-tiers!$D$26+VLOOKUP("N"&100&VLOOKUP(L6,tiers!$B$38:$C$49,2,0)&"N/A"&M6/12&"/"&N6&"0-"&R6/1000&C6*1,tiers!$L$2:$W$20969,12,0),IF(OR(E6="W",E6="X"),VLOOKUP("N"&F6*1&VLOOKUP(L6,tiers!$B$38:$C$49,2,0)&"N/A"&M6/12&"/"&N6&"0-"&R6/1000&C6*1,tiers!$L$2:$W$20969,12,0),IF(AND(F6="050",E6="P",M6=36,N6=60),tiers!$D$29-tiers!$D$26+VLOOKUP("E"&100&VLOOKUP(L6,tiers!$B$52:$C$55,2,0)&"N/A"&M6&"/"&N6&VLOOKUP(R6,tiers!$B$57:$C$59,2,0)&C6*1,tiers!$L$2:$W$20969,12,0),IF(AND(E6="P",M6=36,N6=60),VLOOKUP("E"&F6*1&VLOOKUP(L6,tiers!$B$52:$C$55,2,0)&"N/A"&M6&"/"&N6&VLOOKUP(R6,tiers!$B$57:$C$59,2,0)&C6*1,tiers!$L$2:$W$20969,12,0),IF(AND(F6="050",E6="P"),tiers!$D$29-tiers!$D$26+VLOOKUP("E"&100&VLOOKUP(L6,tiers!$B$52:$C$55,2,0)&"N/A"&M6/12&"/"&N6&VLOOKUP(R6,tiers!$B$57:$C$59,2,0)&C6*1,tiers!$L$2:$W$20969,12,0),IF(E6="P",VLOOKUP("E"&F6*1&VLOOKUP(L6,tiers!$B$52:$C$55,2,0)&"N/A"&M6/12&"/"&N6&VLOOKUP(R6,tiers!$B$57:$C$59,2,0)&C6*1,tiers!$L$2:$W$20969,12,0),IF(AND(F6="050",E6="*",M6=6),tiers!$D$29-tiers!$D$26+VLOOKUP(B6&100&VLOOKUP(L6,tiers!$B$38:$C$49,2,0)&IF(Q6=

    --
    BlameBillCosby.com
    1. Re:A Formula only an Actuary could Love by labnet · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Wow!
      If I was in my early 20's, I'd probabbly think I was 'leet'
      Now in my mid 40's, I'd probabbly fire whomever wrote it.

      --
      46137
    2. Re:A Formula only an Actuary could Love by Waffle+Iron · · Score: 5, Funny

      What is the end result for this one cell?

      42

  15. Re:Piketty's real problem isn't spreadsheet-relate by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Yeeaaahhhh you lose.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/27/piketty-not-wrong_n_5397358.html

    Krugman was joined by economists Justin Wolfers, James Hamilton, Gabriel Zucman, frequent Piketty critic Scott Winship and others, along with The Economist's Ryan Avent, The Washington Post's Matthew O'Brien, and The New York Times' Neil Irwin, to name a few.

  16. What you're really saying is by CriminalNerd · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "I never worked in a company with normal people."

    I'm guessing you haven't had the pleasure of working in the typical firm where the company's years-old ENTIRE lifetime of work and data is passed around e-mail as a 80MB Excel attachment.

    1. Re:What you're really saying is by zugmeister · · Score: 4, Funny

      ... where the company's years-old ENTIRE lifetime of work and data is passed around e-mail as a 80MB Excel attachment.

      This... is retarded enough to loop all the way around the spectrum and land squarely on awesome.

  17. Re:can or cannot compute by Baloroth · · Score: 3, Insightful

    if it can execute the operation needed for the research then it is acceptable...if not, then no

    You could probably write this computational code in a shell script, too. But it would still be a terrible idea. Why? Because it's the wrong tool for the job. Simple as that. It doesn't matter what you can and cannot do, it matters what you should do, and you shouldn't use spreadsheets for anything complicated. It's simply too easy to make stupid mistakes that are difficult to trace and correct (or even notice).

    you can't blame a spreadsheet for a poorly devised experiment...you *can* blame a researcher for using an inappropriate statistical model...you *cannot* criticize the method of analysis as long as it is physically capable of the computation

    TFA isn't blaming the spreadsheets, he's blaming the people who use them for using them. It's not acceptable to use a tool that works poorly and is highly susceptible to mistakes, and no one should listen to anyone who does so unless that person is damned good at that tool: yes, it is possible that someone is so fantastically good with spreadsheets they can use them for massive data analysis with no problems. They are, however, the exception, and I would generally be inclined to disbelieve the results from anyone who does large work with spreadsheets (simply because of the possibility for errors and the lack of concern for accuracy that using spreadsheets demonstrates). So, the conclusion is that you shouldn't use spreadsheets for important work. You absolutely can criticize an analysis if it uses a tool that is highly likely to introduce errors, and that's fundamentally the point (and it's underscored by the fact that that is precisely what happened in Piketty’s case).

    --
    "None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license." --John Milton
  18. Re:Piketty's real problem isn't spreadsheet-relate by Capsaicin · · Score: 3, Informative

    "Oh, that's just a right-wing smear from EVUL RETHUGLICANS!!!"?

    Well the part about figures being constructed "out of thin air" is a smear (whoever it may be who claims it), as becomes clear when one reads the rest of the article you cite. The most balanced assessment of the Giles vs Picketty dispute is perhaps the piece Inequality: A Piketty problem? from The Economist.

    --
    Better to be despised for too anxious apprehensions, than ruined by too confident a security. --Edmund Burke