Re: Adobe and pdf files
Their other products are worthless if the pdf format is not standard. Who would produce a pdf document if all the users of it had to pay not only the producer, but some thrid party, to view it. There are many free alternatives. The reader has to be free to compete with MS word and html and nsf and a host of other formats. Pat McCann GMU Undergrad On Thu, 21 Sep 2000 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > I just read the series of correspondence considering the Xerox machine and > the usage of the term "Xerox" to refer to photocopying. Now the problem I > have does not have to do with the term but with the use of advertising by > providing a free product. Adobe acrobat and its free reader for pdf files > was the first thing that came to mind. Is it really cost effective for Adobe > to provide a free pdf reader when they could possibly sell it on the open > market. I know they sell other products related to pdf files, but is the > advertising of the free reader really encouraging people to take advantage of > their other products or is it causing people to abuse the reader and its > benefits. Seon >
Re: The M.B.A. - why bother?
As an undergraduate economics major investigating the MBA as an option, al this is very interesting to me. I only ask that you provide citation if available, so I can do further research. In a related question, what is the opinion of list members of programs like international commerce at mason or international political economy at fordham? My goals are simple, I want to work in development and I want to make vast fortunes, are these programs at all conducive to that? On Mon, 2 Oct 2000, michael gilson de lemos wrote: > In my experience, outside of specialized consultants, many consulting firms > hire preferentially philosophy/history majors with knowledge of languages > and supervisory experience. Sales and community experience is helpful. MBAs > are for scutwork, as they say, and you're supposed to pick up engineering > background unless you are a specialist. > > Persons with knowledge of opera who enjoy country music are considered way > ahead of the pack as business and economic analysts, whatever the > background. Most other requirements are there to satisfy government > mandates, dazzle customers or mislead those who do not have the background > and are trying to get hired. There are even standards based on hobbies an > interests that are used for hiring, as these tend to be quite revealing when > all other factors are constant. > > Alexander Proudfoot, for many years the top implementation consulting firm, > hired top persons exclusively based on their ability to apply the philosophy > of Gracian, Sun-Tzu, various Samurai thinkers and Lao-tse to business > situations in interesting ways, Aristotle's Physics was required reading > for top persons. Top marks to anyone on the list who figures out why all > this must be so. > > The NYT is 70 years behind the curve and why are academics assuming they > understand that it has any understanding of how consultants act? > > For many years a major firm used a device called a consensor on those with > academic training or government backgrounds. This device was like the > electronic voting devices on TV that averaged responses. They were asked a > set of questions on how to solve a problem. Those that did not follow the > pack were hired, especially if they knew opera. > > Many consulting firms, however, exist that do not follow such standards as > they are in the business of justifying decisions already taken. For them > MBA's and other degrees are a signaling device and are so called quite > openly, also "union cards." > > Best Regards, > MG > Sent: Saturday, September 30, 2000 10:15 PM > Subject: The M.B.A. - why bother? > > > > > > Business schools have been criticized for being pure credentialing > > agencies. The New York Time ran an article today about how consulting > > firms are hiring non-MBA's. usually people with graduate degrees > > in any field. In house studies show that MBA do just as well > > as non-MBAs. > > > > The article is: > > > > http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/01/business/01MBAS.html > > > > Question 1: What took firms so long to realize this? Did they just > > depend on the MBA as an easy signal (smart, business oriented) until > > the stream of MBA's started to get diverted to the internet start ups? > > > > Question 2: In a competitive market for labor, what value does the > > MBA degree have? The NYT article reports that non-MBA pick up what they > > need in a few weeks. Is there any value added? > > > > -fabio > > > >
Re: Personality, Politics, and Economics Test
Should we resubmit our answers? Patrick McCann GMU Undergrad On Tue, 10 Oct 2000, Bryan Caplan wrote: > Followup announcement. I had some technical problems with the > Personality, Politics, and Economics online test I announced last week. > Now it is up and working again, but has moved to: > > http://www.bcaplan.com/cgi/person.cgi > > -- > Prof. Bryan Caplan [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/bcaplan > > "We may be dissatisfied with television for two quite different >reasons: because our set does not work, or because we dislike >the program we are receiving. Similarly, we may be dissatisfied >with ourselves for two quite different reasons: because our body >does not work (bodily illness), or because we dislike our >conduct (mental illness)." >--Thomas Szasz, *The Untamed Tongue* >
Re: Free Re-fills
I have noticed the entire Cape Cod region of MA also seems to shun the free refill pricing method, at least they did when I was there a few years ago. Is it possible their consumers have similar elasticity levels to those in Europe, especially given their high tourist composition? This policy seems to range from the Ruby Tuesday / Denny's mid range level restaurant to the more pricey and distinguished one of a kind store. Pat McCann GMU Undergrad On Sat, 8 Jul 2000, Bryan Caplan wrote: > Related question: Why no free re-fills in Europe? > -- > Prof. Bryan Caplan [EMAIL PROTECTED] >http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/bcaplan > > "Is there anything more distinctly understood by all men, than >what it is to see, to hear, to remember, to judge? Yet it is >the most difficult thing in the world to define these >operations according to the rules of logical definition. But >it is not more difficult than it is useless. Sometimes >philosophers attempt to define them; but, if we examine their >definitions, we shall find that they amount to no more than >giving one synonymous word for another, and commonly a worse >for a better." > --Thomas Reid, *Essays on the Active Powers of Man* >
Re: Diamond Arbitrage?
It seems the "retail" price would serve a function. It seems to me that the "retail" price of any particular diamond would be standardized accross diamond sellers and a central tendency of how much a seller discounts from that price would allow for easier comparison of diamond retailers than the prices of individual diamonds, which vary in several quality measures that affect their price and are each like no other diamond. Pat McCann GMU Undergrad On Mon, 10 Jul 2000, michael gilson de lemos wrote: > I agree with Fred. Something similar goes on in stamp and coin collecting, > and to some extent with auto appraisals.However, diamonds are a very > controlled market. > > Best Regards, > MG > appraising at > > the retail price, but the "wholesale" is a fiction, actually being the > real > > retail price, and the "retail" price is a fiction that few would actually > > buy at. > > > > Fred Foldvary > >
Re: Economics and Image Making of Universities
On Thu, 3 Aug 2000, Nicholas E. Rozen wrote: > Main Hypothesis: The following (partial set of) Very Prestigious > Universities (VPUs) have related markets for undergraduate applicants, > for reasons of academic offerings and school reputation: Harvard, > Princeton, U. California Berkeley, MIT, California Institute of > Technology (CalTech), University of Chicago. > Co-Hypothesis 1: Cultural reasons exist for each of these private > institutions to keep nurturing its own "identity" (which includes a lot > of stuff, some truthful, some mythical). > Co-Hypothesis 2: For some subset of applicants, geographic > considerations aren't the major decision factor. > Co-Hypothesis 3: Most applicants are aware that a bachelor's degree from > any one of these institutions could a much stronger than average signal > about them to (their) future potential employers. > Co-Hypothesis 4: VPUs basically try to advertise a large breadth of > opportunities (both academic and social) for undergraduates, so as not > to discourage bright/talented people from applying. > > --- > > Now given these hypotheses, does this market for undergraduate > applicants exhibit any of the following? > > a) Efficiencies could be brought about by corporate merger of two or > more of such universities, but will not. > b) Differences in university "identities" generally smooth out or level > out over time. > c) Some differences in university "identity" grow over time. > d) The current price setting (basically tuition charges) trend, i.e. > everyone spirals upward, continues as long as there remains financial > aid sufficient in quantity to encourage bright/talented, yet poor > applicants to enroll. > > Many economists and current students out there have probably reflected a > lot on the economics and image making of the (not necessarily very > prestigious) university. If Universities/Colleges rarely ever merge, > why is that? Will more do so in the future? (I am only aware of one > merger, that of Radcliffe College and Harvard, officially complete in > 1999. That must have had relatively low corporate costs to implement, > since they were always conjoined at the head. Can anyone identify other > mergers?) > > -Nick Rozen University College joined with UVA in the late 50's, this was later spun off to be George Mason University Pat McCann GMU Undergrad > > Postscript: I could not make good guesses about any of these questions. > I'd seen indications that over-achieving high school applicants with > both personal depth and financial resources tended to carefully examine > "quality of life"/"lifestyle"/"fun"/"image" features when applying to > colleges. (For example, applicants for whom social life was very > important would tend not to apply to Chicago.) But c) and d) above can > be restated as whether there will be a convergence in these features > (and other dimensions, such as strength in science teaching) that > gradually determine the identity of a school. >
IEM Gaf?
Well something that happens 3 out of 10 times is not that big of a shock when it happens is it? Or are you saying they predicted a 70% share of the electorate? Pat GMU Undergrad
