But chief executive Errol Damelin hasn't been following the data if he still thinks this is "comparable to credit cards".
With hindsight, and following the data breach at Sony, the answer is probably yes.
"He does a great job of listening to us, getting multiple voices and multiple recommendations, and following the data," he said.
The data won – and the rebooted Google, with a computer scientist at its helm, will reiterate the importance of always following the data.
While the evidence supports following the data, be it in football or investing, we're unlikely to do so.
But, frankly, the economic data has looked stronger, and the Fed has just been following the data.
From Glasnost Road, a scientist could, by following the data on the seismographs, tell when, for example, a nuclear bomb was being tested underground in Nevada — there was very little "noise" that interfered with such readings.
Hundreds of millions of dollars may hinge on the answer, because African nations and Western donors are closely following the data emerging from the Millennium Villages.
Lawrence Summers, the former Treasury secretary and a Harvard economist, described Mr. Krueger, his former student, as a "total empiricist" and a "great data monger following the data where it went".
Sometimes the changes are minor, but in other cases things can change fairly significantly as you go, and it's important to be open-minded toward following the data wherever they may lead.
