Is Python slow for numerical computing?

Fill a NumPy array with function values:
n = 2000
a = zeros((n,n))
xcoor = arange(0,1,1/float(n))
ycoor = arange(0,1,1/float(n))

for i in range(n):
    for j in range(n):
        a[i,j] = f(xcoor[i], ycoor[j])  # f(x,y) = sin(x*y) + 8*x
Fortran/C/C++ version: (normalized) time 1.0
NumPy vectorized evaluation of f: time 3.0
Python loop version (version): time 140 (math.sin)
Python loop version (version): time 350 (numarray.sin)

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