Re: Performance...
Odd then that my brother-in-law managed the financial modelling for the Australian branch of a US-based company here in Australia using Excel. What he was doing (as I understand it -- I'm not an accountant) was constructing a financial representation (model) of various aspects of the firm. The model performed mathematical calculations, and was used to make recommendations based on that information.
To say that "proper tools like mathematics" do a better job seems to be a non sequitur.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
