Why is pca() faster than svd()?

The documentation for the pca() function says that 'svd' is the default algorithm:

"By default, pca centers the data and uses the singular value decomposition (SVD) algorithm."

If this is the case, why does svd(X) take much longer than pca(X)?

Answer 1

[John D'Errico]

Read the help for SVD, particularly the economy SVD.