OASIS Mailing List ArchivesView the OASIS mailing list archive below
or browse/search using MarkMail.

 


Help: OASIS Mailing Lists Help | MarkMail Help

ubl-lcsc message

[Date Prev] | [Thread Prev] | [Thread Next] | [Date Next] -- [Date Index] | [Thread Index] | [List Home]


Subject: Re: [ubl-lcsc] Rate and Ratio


** Reply to message from marion.royal@gsa.gov on Thu, 7 Aug 2003 16:57:13 -0400

> An alternative of "ratio" was offered, but I'm not sure this was resolved.
> The problem may be that we habitually use incorrect terms, especially
> within our domains.  I looked around a bit and noticed that in mathematics,
> rate is used to compare two unlike units of measurement as in "kilometers
> per hour" and ratio is used for comparison of numbers of the same units of
> measure (gear ratio is 1:4).  The units of a ratio are typically not
> expressed.

Ratios never have units, they are pure numbers.

> A currency exchange is a comparison of two different units, so currency
> exchange rate would be accurate.
> 
> A percentage seems to me to be a ratio.  A tax of 10 percent would equate
> to a ratio of 1 to 10 dollars.  Likewise with discounts.
> 
> Does this make sense to you?  Does it have a dramatic impact on business
> vocabularies?

To my mind, there is no way UBL could hope to promote the idea of a "tax ratio"
for what the world calls a "tax rate".  A tax rate is indeed the ratio of the
tax you pay to your gross earnings, but this is simply too subtle.  Rate is
just a very general concept, and I would suggest that all you can do is qualify
it appropriately for each context.

	Cheers,
		Tony.
====
Anthony B. Coates
London Market Systems Limited
33 Throgmorton Street, London, EC2N 2BR 
http://www.londonmarketsystems.com/
mailto:abcoates@londonmarketsystems.com
Mobile/Cell: +44 (79) 0543 9026
[MDDL Editor (Market Data Definition Language), http://www.mddl.org/]
[FpML Arch WG Member (Financial Products Markup Language), http://www.fpml.org/]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
This Email may contain confidential information and/or copyright material and is intended for the use of the addressee only.
Any unauthorised use may be unlawful. If you receive this Email by mistake please advise the sender immediately by using the reply  facility in your e-mail software.
Email is not a secure method of communication and London Market Systems Limited cannot accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of this message or any attachment(s). Please examine this email for virus infection, for which London Market Systems Limited accepts no responsibility. If verification of this email is sought then please request a hard copy. Unless otherwise stated any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not represent those of London Market Systems Limited.


[Date Prev] | [Thread Prev] | [Thread Next] | [Date Next] -- [Date Index] | [Thread Index] | [List Home]