Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2007 17:45:18 -0800 (PST) From: Victor Rangel-Ribeiro <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Dear Frederick, Oh dear! You accuse Dinesh D'Souza of talking through his hat? You're going to get our Mario all worked up, and we'll never hear the end of this. He's already locked in a battle with Mervyn, and now you've gone and opened a second front... > Mario clarifies: > Dear Victor, > I see you are still engaged in trying to stir up the pot without adding anything to the general debate:-)) > There is no battle with Mervyn going on. Only a minor dispute about a choice of terms. I understand his figures and how he uses them perhaps better than he does. After all, I have an MBA, as Gabe reminded everyone, and everyone knows that MBA's are taught this stuff and then some, and don't just pick it up from their friends and neighbors:-)) > Actually, I would recommend a hurdle rate higher than the puny 5.1% and also recommend different hurdle rates depending on the perceived risk in an investment. See, that expensive MBA did teach me some tricks of the trade:-)) But Mervyn knows all this, too, and says he makes a lot of money with it. Good for him. > Where I took issue was when he a) described a private expectation as an official statistic, and b) thought he could take a cheap shot at the US by claiming that the US routinely excludes the cost of food and gasoline in calculating inflation, which is plainly false. > Regarding Frederick's comments about Dinesh, I will tell Dinesh that he should start worrying about Frederick's opinions once Frederick can command speaking or writing fees for an entire year that comes anywhere close to what Dinesh makes for a single speech:-)) > Until then, Dinesh has little to worry about:-)) >
