It belongs to an alternate reality that we can visit to escape the built-in assumptions of our everyday environment.
Compounded over decades, small changes in assumptions lead to big changes in results.
The culprit is extremely low interest rates on high-quality corporate bonds, which play a critical role in assumptions for calculating pension plan obligations.
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The gap between the forecasts also reflects differences in assumptions.
It also had a new formula for the consumer price index -- called chained CPI -- that wraps in new assumptions on consumer habits in response to rising prices, such as seeking cheaper alternatives, and would result in smaller benefit increases.
When in fact the very assumptions in the models which lead to our concluding that there is a problem that needs a solution are that markets, globalisation and yes, even capitalism, are part of the solution not the problem.
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Parker was less impressive (though not wildly off base) in his assumptions about inflation and earnings growth.
And not being conservative enough in making assumptions about returns on plan portfolios can quickly and easily sink a pension fund.
The really important thing to note here though is that these price rises and falls do not indicate that everyone is correct in their assumptions.
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But if the firm is still imprisoned in the assumptions of shareholder capitalism, then the sales unit focused on noble customer purpose will be operating like an oasis in an unfriendly desert.
Without boring you in academia, one of the assumptions in the theory suggests that companies and asset classes have a natural, repeating cycle in which good performance begets bad performance and vice-versa.
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Measurement veracity may come into question when data is formatted outside of CRM systems, so be prepared to identify all assumptions in data gathering, and use those assumptions consistently.
Vodafone has also suffered serious write-downs on its businesses in Turkey and Ghana due to adverse changes in the macroeconomic assumptions the company made when sizing up acquisitions in the markets.
Despite this economic outlook, the stock markets in the last three months have agreed with the unstated assumptions in the whispers of "green shoots" - that growth is a prerogative of the modern era, that rebounds are always V-shaped and that central banks and politicians have abolished the business cycle that has plagued economic life since ancient times.
There is, of course, a large element of chance in any individual's career outcome, and we had to make some assumptions in computing average salary paths with and without the M.
Mr. Bernanke said he expects growth to pick-up, but says that if the Fed is wrong in its growth assumptions the FOMC has a variety of tools to help spur activity in an effort to boost employment.
But as soon as people leave the meeting and start making in-the-moment decisions, their underlying attitudes and assumptions get in the way.
The numbers also put a few commonplace free market assumptions in a critical perspective.
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You can modify our assumptions in the above charts to create your own forecast.
Even a small change in the economic assumptions underpinning the surplus projections can make a big difference.
Put it another way, these forecasts are wildly, unavoidably, sensitive to even small changes in the underlying assumptions.
This is exactly what happened in 2007 when assumptions about mortgage-backed securities led to a cascade of losses.
Charli Carpenter has an excellent post up at Duck of Minerva dismantling many of the assumptions in the individual articles.
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Moreover, Fitch gives kudos to owners for putting in realistic revenue assumptions.
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Family businesses might be considered incompatible to entrepreneurship because they are usually tradition-bound, multi- generational, and considered diametrically opposed in terms of assumptions and actions.
Susan Patton's letter to the Daily Princetonian advising female students to find a husband on campus is surprising in its antiquated assumptions, for sure.
He says they are challenging 3 major assumptions in the market.
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These collaborations force political scientists to question some of their cherished assumptions in the light of insights that experts from other disciplines bring to the problem.
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