Culture

Family

Nature

Science

Subscribe

The incredible story of how a spreadsheet error led to global budget cuts.

This one’s got it all: ideas with stakes as high as the global economy, a 28-year-old grad student, a spreadsheet error, and of course, Stephen Colbert. The Colbert ReportGet More: Comedy Central,Funny Videos,Funny TV Shows 1:30-1:57: We get a depressing montage of American leaders using this study as foundation for policy. 2:35-2:45: We meet their…

By

Alvin Melathe

This one’s got it all: ideas with stakes as high as the global economy, a 28-year-old grad student, a spreadsheet error, and of course, Stephen Colbert.

The Colbert Report
Get More: Comedy Central,Funny Videos,Funny TV Shows

  • 1:30-1:57: We get a depressing montage of American leaders using this study as foundation for policy.
  • 2:35-2:45: We meet their European counterparts.
  • 3:53: We meet the 28-year-old grad student who found the error … in about 5 minutes.
  • 4:45: We learn what the data actually tells us.
  • 6:11: Colbert is, well, just being Colbert.

    • *Just to be clear: The spreadsheet error was the first in a series of mistakes made by professors Reinhart and Rogoff. For a more

    detailed analysis, check out Mike Konczal, who writes at Next New Deal.

    Add to Google News

    Tags

    More for You

    tyler mane, tyler mane cancer, breast cancer
    Health

    ‘X-Men’ star warns men to ‘check yourselves’ after surprising breast cancer diagnosis

    baby, doctor, landau reflex, held, smile
    Health

    Pediatrician explains fascinating reason why babies look like skydivers when you lift them

    Grizzly bear, bears, wildlife, survival skills
    Animals

    Woman survives terrifying grizzly encounter with flawless safety techniques

    Hotels for wildlife encounters
    Travel

    Forget the zoo, these 8 hotels bring you face-to-face with the genuinely wild

    als, father daughter dance, wedding, wedding first dance, als dance
    Culture

    Bride shares tearjerking first dance with dad battling ALS in his ‘wheel-bed’ 

    Get stories worth sharing delivered to your inbox.

    Advertisement

    Featured

    All Featured Stories →
    Amazon, delivery drivers, gig work, kindness, TikTok
    Culture

    An Amazon driver named the 3 things she dreads delivering. Two involve your pets.

    Adam Albright-Hanna & Upworthy Staff
    news reel footage, monocles, count sribor-rylski, restored films, 1930
    Culture

    Distinguished 1930s count explains how to wear a monocle in a charming restored video

    Tod Perry
    Simon Howard, Find my family, ancestry, graveyards
    Culture

    A man picks random graves to research and uncovers remarkable forgotten lives

    Cecily Knobler
    aristotle, genius, very intelligent, scientist, brilliant, science,
    Science

    Philosophy expert shares Aristotle’s simple way to know if you have a ‘great mind’

    Tod Perry & Upworthy Staff