Using historical data to make informed decisions about how things may be in the future is an example of making predictions.1 pointTrueFalse

Predictive analytics involves taking historical data.TRUEFALSE

Which data type uses historical data to make decisions in the present?answerOperationalConceptualAnalyticalLogical

To make informed decisions, it is essential to gather ____________ data.accurate and relevantanecdotal and speculativeoutdated and irrelevantincomplete and biased

So, bottom line: economic forecasters would profit from thinking a bit more about history before gazing into their crystal balls, or at least before telling us what they see. Don’t get me wrong - I realise how hard making predictions is, especially about the future. So, one last point: if economic seers don’t want to think more historically or use empirical data more rigorously, they should at least hedge their bets. As a piece in The Wall Street Journal advised last year, put the chances of something happening at 40 per cent. If that something does in fact happen, one looks good. If it doesn’t, one can always say: ‘Hey, look, all I meant was that it was a strong possibility.’

People may try to anticipate the future, and we can even predict the future in some cases, but no one is literally ____________.1 pointcircumspectindifferentprescientperfect