Standards of Measurement:

      Ahhh, the metric system. I have actually covered this topic before. The metric system has been in existence, in the US, for roughly around 300 years, (beginning in the 1700s). Why hasn't the US fully converted as yet? Well, first, let's look at some of the advantages. Since approximately 95% of the world's population has already converted, if we converted, it would make trade and commerce much easier on us. Units of 10 are easier and more efficient to quantify than our standard division of 12, (requiring a round off with un-even or incomplete numbers). In industry, for example; manufacturing and processing overlapping can be eliminated reducing the cost of packaging and waste. Thus metric measurements are in more, and more demand worldwide. Finally, in the scientific realm, where calculus is employed, units of ten are more accurate to formulate.

     Now, let's look at the disadvantages . . . I can only think of one; the cost of conversion. In the current economic climate, the US is walking on a tight rope of chance, with a deficit so large; it tends to tug us off balance. And, in the view of raising the debt ceiling so we can barrow more to pay the bills; it probably wouldn't behoove us to reduce our units of measurement from 12 down to 10, (maybe we could employ this when it comes time to pay back, the chances are good that those we barrowed from would be dead before the debt could be fully paid). (THE UNITED STATES AND THE METRIC SYSTEM -LC1136-http://ts.nist.gov/Weights AndMeasures /Metric/lc1136q.cfm)[08/06/2011]