Any advice for a 19 year old undergrad?

[bigbadwolf]

I don't think anyone disputes the rise in complexity.

Volantis in Essos is now the pivot -- sending a mercenary company to Westeros as well as a fleet to Meereen. Hopefully Vol. 6 will be ready by the end of this year -- the battles of Meereen, Storm's End, and Winterfell will be interesting. Also want to know what happens to Jaime and Jon Snow.

 

[C S]

Art of War has been a finance cliche ever since Gordon Gekko recommended it to Bud Fox.

Art of War was already a business/finance cliche before the movie Wall Street. The point of that scene wasn't to surprise viewers with an esoteric reference, it was to show that Gekko, despite seeming a God-like figure, was just a typical Wall Street schmuck who makes what they think are esoteric references.

By 1987 -- when Wall Street came out, there was a cornucopia of thought to explain why Japanese companies were kicking America's butt, and generally the explanation was that Japanese executives had to read books like The Art of War and The Book of Five Rings. Ergo, American executives should too. That school of thought could be said to have peaked by then, as in 1986 Akio Morita's book Made in Japan came out, and it gave a less-caricature-like view of Japanese business philosophy. It was well-received, as people had generally had enough of The Art of War being given as an explanation for why Japanese cars and electronics were better.

 

[bigbadwolf]

By 1987 -- when Wall Street came out, there was a cornucopia of thought to explain why Japanese companies were kicking America's butt, and generally the explanation was that Japanese executives had to read books like The Art of War and The Book of Five Rings. Ergo, American executives should too. That school of thought could be said to have peaked by then, as in 1986 Akio Morita's book Made in Japan came out, and it gave a less-caricature-like view of Japanese business philosophy. It was well-received, as people had generally had enough of The Art of War being given as an explanation for why Japanese cars and electronics were better.

American executives being morons generally, they'd not have read Herman Kahn's 1970 book, The Emerging Japanese Superstate, which was remarkably prescient about Japan's economic future.

 

[tfors]

I read somewhere the success being due to the Japanese actually applying the best practices known in the Western world, while Western conglomerates gradually being obfuscated by bureaucracy (until the 80s/90s).

By the way, greentech could be a wonderful field to apply yourself to as an alternative to finance.

 

[Daniel Duffy]

American executives being morons generally, they'd not have read Herman Kahn's 1970 book, The Emerging Japanese Superstate, which was remarkably prescient about Japan's economic future.

It was the Japanese who learn Kaizen and Continuous Improvement from USA in the 60s. (see Dr. Deming).

Japan's 5th generation project was a flop (AI and Prolog, so not surprising).

 

[bigbadwolf]

It was the Japanese who learn Kaizen and Continuous Improvement from USA in the 60s. (see Dr. Deming).

And Deming's work on statistical quality and process control. But Deming was ignored in the USA. Then his name became a buzzword in US management circles in the '80s -- but only a buzzword, because US executives didn't have the stat background to understand what he was saying, and in any case they didn't want to dirty their hands on the shop floor. There was an interesting book written in the late '80s that compared the diverging fortunes and differences in management style in Ford and Nissan. In Ford you had the bright MBA types who knew how to make good presentations and were adept in management- and finance-speak. In Nissan, the managers were engineers. Arguably the shift away from manufacturing towards finance in the USA in the last few decades has been for these reasons (the people at the top are tech and math illiterate, and they want the easy pickings). The same in Britain.

 

[tfors]

And Deming's work on statistical quality and process control. But Deming was ignored in the USA. Then his name became a buzzword in US management circles in the '80s -- but only a buzzword, because US executives didn't have the stat background to understand what he was saying, and in any case they didn't want to dirty their hands on the shop floor. There was an interesting book written in the late '80s that compared the diverging fortunes and differences in management style in Ford and Nissan. In Ford you had the bright MBA types who knew how to make good presentations and were adept in management- and finance-speak. In Nissan, the managers were engineers. Arguably the shift away from manufacturing towards finance in the USA in the last few decades has been for these reasons (the people at the top are tech and math illiterate, and they want the easy pickings). The same in Britain.

Could it be that the economy and particularly types of jobs in that economy moves towards the types of supply of graduates, instead of the supply of graduates move towards the demand of the economy?

 

[TehRaio]

Could it be that the economy and particularly types of jobs in that economy moves towards the types of supply of graduates, instead of the supply of graduates move towards the demand of the economy?

a bit of cronyism too? math illiterate people only appointing their pales?

 

[Yike Lu]

That kicked off quite an interesting discussion. "You know what the trouble is, Brucey? We used to make shit in this country, build shit. Now we just put our hand in the next guy's pocket." -- from The Wire

 

[bigbadwolf]

That kicked off quite an interesting discussion. "You know what the trouble is, Brucey? We used to make shit in this country, build shit. Now we just put our hand in the next guy's pocket." -- from The Wire

The essence of finance, but we're not supposed to say it. The ascendancy of finance over manufacturing, as the US follows in the wake of Britain.

 

[Yike Lu]

The essence of finance, but we're not supposed to say it. The ascendancy of finance over manufacturing, as the US follows in the wake of Britain.

That's not true. Risk optimization (in the Kelly sense) grows the whole pie. But agree that a lot of the bad has come from over emphasizing zero sum behaviors and ignoring traditional manufacturing.