Singing By Chalicea ( The Crossword...
Crosswords1 min ago
Why is it.....
6 Answers
...that people insist on saying the interest rate at 0.5% is half of one percent. Is this to prevent confusion that it might be of one-hundred-and-twenty-one-seven-hundred-and-fifty-sixths (121/756)?
Answers
1 to 6 of 6
Best Answer
No best answer has yet been selected by KARL. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.
For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.
I think one per cent means one part per hundred, so 2% = two parts per hundred , etc.
Economists and mathematicians prefer to say 'half of one per cent' rather than 'a half percent' since the latter in effect means a 'half part per hundred' which could be confused I suppose with 50%.
But I don't know why we don't just say 0.5%, since that shouldn't lead to any confusion. After all, the bank of England could in theory choose to change rates by for example 0.3% and it would be a bit unwieldy to say 'three tenths of one percent'.
Anyway, a worringly large proportion of the poulation don't understand percentages and don't know what 0.5% means.
Economists and mathematicians prefer to say 'half of one per cent' rather than 'a half percent' since the latter in effect means a 'half part per hundred' which could be confused I suppose with 50%.
But I don't know why we don't just say 0.5%, since that shouldn't lead to any confusion. After all, the bank of England could in theory choose to change rates by for example 0.3% and it would be a bit unwieldy to say 'three tenths of one percent'.
Anyway, a worringly large proportion of the poulation don't understand percentages and don't know what 0.5% means.
Now I understand - nobody understands. Half of one percent is 0.5% which is the same as half a percent (a percent being one percent being 1%). You see, one is one whether it is a kilo a stone or percent (yes, one hundreth of the whole). Half of one is a half is 0.5. If you reduce something by half a percent then it is 0.5% less than it was before - yes, if 1% has been reduced by 0.5% then strictly speaking it is 0.995% but the rate was reduced to half of what it was so reduced by 50%. It was reduced to half a percent, 0.5% (yes, which is half of one). However, when people tell me they have lost half a stone then I get seriously worried because half a stone is actually just a stone that is half the size of what it used to be. For what reason did they halve it and how did they come to lose one half - where is the other half for comparison purposes and where do you start looking for the lost half ......but that is another story.
1 to 6 of 6
