William Baumol Econ 490 fall 2017

Description: With the abundance in resources and the ease in which people use to spread information, the issue of misinformation has become more and more prominent. Facebook is one of the platforms that has received lots of attention as of late for not handling misinformation. With the claims that there were campaigns to misinform people during the Brexit vote and even the recent presidential election, the company made the decision to combat it. There were a bunch of solutions that people suggested Facebook take. Some wanted a bunch of moderators to be hired, or have some program created that would automatically detect false information. In the end, Facebook decided to outsource the task to third party fact checking companies. Many of which are news publishers themselves.  A year into this attempted solution, and many are protesting this solution. One reason being that these journalist companies are hurting for money, and that the opportunity presented by Facebook would create a c

In the movie The Departed, Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio), is part of an undercover operation to infiltrate Frank Costello's (Jack Nicholson) gang. Hoping to get an invite to join the gang, Billy performs a series of crimes to get noticed. These crimes ended him in jail for several months, and he finally got noticed after getting into a brawl with some mafia members. Billy gave the off the appearance of a criminal that could hold his own. He just might be of use to the gang. However, Costello had his suspicions, and suspected that Billy might be a cop. While sitting at a bar, Costello approached Billy to gauge his interest in joining the gang and also test his suspicions. After some words were exchanged, Costello had one of his goons tap him down for any wires, and then him pin down and bash his already broken arm, all while asking if he was a cop. Satisfied with his work, Costello left and Billy's integration into the gang began. As the leader of the gang, Costello wante

When someone dies, they often distribute what was theirs through a will. The most common possession that is doled out is any money they might have left over, along with any other valuables. With the person dead, there really can't be any quid pro quo going on here, and even if there was, the deceased wouldn't experience any of the economic benefits that might come from it. So why have a will? Why not just invest all the money into a really nice grave stone or plot of land? Perhaps they want their legacy to live on, or maybe they're more altruistic and want to leave the people or causes they care about better off. Maybe they're not a fan of the government, and believe that their money would be better off anywhere other than there. The idea of a will has been around for ages. One of the earlier examples is the middle eastern version called the waqf. By protecting the deceased's wealth from the government and locking it into an investment of their choosing, the needs

Within the context of risk and uncertainty, the major you choose, activities you participate in, and amount of debt accumulated are all ingredients that are supposed to come together to bring you a source of income. For some it's exclusively fulfilling work or a high income, and the more optimistic people are shooting for both. Go to a good school, get good grades, get a good job. Regardless of what is fueling a person's decision to go to college, this is the basic outline they're following. Well, I guess the "good" isn't a given. But if they're going to school, grades will follow, and the previous two factor will influence the number and types of opportunities they have in terms of work. Making sure everything is all done well will reduce uncertainty of opportunities.  My decision to attend U of I was based primarily off the school's reputation. My thinking was that when I graduate I'd have a name brand that could signal a decent level of qual

Each of the prompts have encouraged the development of their own theme (organizational  restructuring, transfer pricing, incentives, teamwork), and after reflecting on these posts, it's helped me become more observant in recognizing organizational issues. That's probably due to the fact that they all asked about some change or conflict. While times of conflict or challenge are more fun to explore and they offer more to learn from, they can also be forgotten if they aren't brought up again.  These past weeks in this course have introduced me to the challenge organizations face in aligning preferences while addressing organizational objectives.  These prompts made me rethink of events of conflict and challenge. So at a more personal level, these prompts all promoted the theme of self-reflection. Looking at the prompts in this way, they've helped in further developing or revising any previously learned lessons, perhaps due to changes in perspective.  The click it

Meet Dave. He's a soon to be college freshman, on the hunt for the school he'll call home for the next four years. A visit was scheduled to tour the University of Illinois, and he's driving towards the campus right now. While he's sure the tour will be great, he's also really looking forward to visiting his brother, who's currently a senior. As he drives down the highway, he passes the sign that says he's approaching his destination. Peering down the road, he see's what looks like might be a great wall of some sort. Needing to resolve this mystery, he puts the pedal to the metal and races towards it. He hits a bump and the information packet that the University sent him fell from the dash and the contents spilled everywhere. Maintaining his speed, he reaches down to pick up what fell, when he sees what looks like a role of cash money protruding from the information packet. He picks them up and unravels the roll with one hand, and is surprised to see the