Author Archives: idj4thinking

Leadership is Finding and Focusing on a Problem

Do you see yourself as a leader? There is no divine mandate, so the next best thing is to find a common cause and work together to build something awesome. Since I’m a cvetcher, and I actually want to seize control and get the problems I don’t like solved, I must lead, at least someContinue reading “Leadership is Finding and Focusing on a Problem”

The Political Economy of Price Gouging

Inflation has risen by approximately 20% during the Biden presidency. Presidential candidate Harris, being tied intimately to Biden’s administration wants to explain price increases in ways that focus on corporate greed rather than her own administration. Her posture is essentially that corporate raiders are the reason prices are high, and the solution is price gouging legislation to create price ceilings duringContinue reading “The Political Economy of Price Gouging”

Poorly Aligned Compliments

What personality trait in people raises a red flag with you? I am not the most trusting person. I often think that people are out to get you, especially in environments where it’s unclear what benefits they get from playing it straight. As someone who’s read a lot of books on influencing other people, complimentsContinue reading “Poorly Aligned Compliments”

Polar Bear, Kleenex, And The Wardrobe

There’s a lot of iconic brands that exist. They aim to be best in class to the point that no one thinks of their competitors even when they offer the same product. Kleenex tissues are an example of this. There’s considerable brand equity associated with being a Kleenex or an IKEA. The question becomes howContinue reading “Polar Bear, Kleenex, And The Wardrobe”

Is education the great equalizer?

Proponents of this view might point to things like charter schools doing better than traditional schools, that people in Harlem can beat people in Scarsdale. They might also point to the fact that people who are initially poor/low class and can enter elite institutions tend to do better in those institutions than they would inContinue reading “Is education the great equalizer?”

MOOCs are the Future

If you believe that human capital can be developed, Massive Open Online Courses are the future. I imagine the per-unit cost of production is low, much lower than brick and mortar colleges, and the opportunity cost is similarly low, whereas the output is theoretically high. Colleges can really be thought of in two ways economically,Continue reading “MOOCs are the Future”