As "Loc Dog" noted, it's hard to disagree with the point previously made that there may well have been a different response on the message board given different results. However, let's ignore the emotional underpinnings of that debate...
The reason I look for statistical differences in things, from companies in which I advise or invest to selecting mutual funds to school achievement scores to grocery shopping and beyond, is for two reasons:
- As someone who owns and/or helps businesses, I believe that benchmarking and evaluation of "best in class" businesses, as measured as objectively and rationally as possible, leads to better businesses.
- As a consumer, I believe that statistical differentiation, particularly against expectation and particularly over time, can potentially give me a higher value in terms of what I'm spending.
Taken together, these tend to me to form a large part of the "invisible hand" of which Mr. Smith was so fond.
[Postscript: I made a promise to some folks that regardless of outcome, I would perform the same analysis this year that I have since before CESA was formed. I've lived up to that promise; now I will fade away to my previous state of posting little or not at all... 
]
