Charles Wheelan

Stick with me; it’s not that complicated. Suppose that the mean height in the sample is 66 inches (with a standard deviation of 5 inches) and that the mean weight is 177 pounds (with a standard deviation of 10 pounds). Now suppose that you are 72 inches tall and weigh 168 pounds. We can also say that you your height is 1.2 standard deviations above the mean in height [(72 – 66)/5)] and .9 standard deviations below the mean in weight, or –0.9 for purposes of the formula [(168 – 177)/10]. Yes, it’s unusual for someone to be above the mean in height and below the mean in weight, but since you’ve paid good money for this book, I figured I should at least make you tall and thin. Notice that your height and weight, formerly in inches and pounds, have been reduced to 1.2 and –0.9. This is what makes the units go away.

global financial system

mean that I didn’t even recognize what was being aske