[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

The dirty little secret is that profit or loss is a (relatively) small difference between two large numbers--income and expenses. For example, expenses might equal 90% of income, yielding a 10% profit. In such case it only takes a 1% change in income or a 1.1% change in expense to change the profit by 10%. And a 10% change in income or an 11% change in expense can double the profit--or obliterate it.

That means that behavior which easily might be portrayed as Scrooge-like may turn a failing business into a highly successful one. And that explains why people risk being portrayed as Scrooge. And when one considers that the same constraints apply to the management of newspapers, it is no wonder that a newspaper manager who knows that math perfectly well is willing - nay, eager - to portray other managers as Scrooges in the hope of increasing income by a few percent.