Relying on the adage---the only stupid question is the one not asked---I ask
for an explanation of "an order of magnitude". I had understood it to mean
an approximation of an amount associated with whatever subject was under
discussion. However, in reading David Levenstam's comment (see related
excerpt below) it appears that an "order of magnitude" is generally viewed
as 10's, 100's, 1000's etc. Responses welcome.
"All my books remain packed in boxes, so I can't look up the figures, but I
seem to recall that the Congressional proponents of Medicare projected an
ten-year federal outlay of some $8 billion, as opposed to the annual outlay
of $110+ billion now. I can't conceive of the vast majority of Americans
supporting a program that would have cost two orders of magnitude greater
than projected."
