ABSTRACT
Regulations, even those that concern numerical procedures, are texts. As a rule, texts say more and less than that their authors wish; translations (linguistic or not) can change the text beyond recognition (for better and for worse), and institutional sediments are much more resistant to change than the eager change agents wish. In the global world, ideas travel around the planet, but are then translated locally. The result may be that the same idea differs every place it lands, that different ideas may lead to similar practices, and that the final combination of global ideas and local practices is almost inevitably difficult to foresee, but fascinating to study.
