Icelandic government math
A good friend sent this to me just now: The Icelandic government seems to use their own rules for arithmetic. From the Letter of Intent they sent to IMF:
The collapse of the banking system has left us with considerable external financing needs. We estimate this need to be about $25 billion during the period from now and until the end of 2010. Of this, about $19 billion are composed by arrears on obligations of the three intervened private banks as well as financing earmarked for payments in relation to foreign deposits, leaving a cash financing need of $5 billion.
In case you missed it - it says that 25 - 19 = 5.
(note: this post makes no judgement of what amounts are needed, just pointing out the math, and yes - I realize it is probably a rounding error)
It’s just a effect; 24.6 - 19.4 = 5.2, rounded to nearest: 25 - 19 = 5. The same results from rounding down 25.0 - 19.5 = 5.5. It’s not an error since in both cases the rounding is correct.
Still, when writing bills it helps to continue with the rounded values instead of the exact to avoid this effect in the sums and upset the beancounters.