Economics

Accounting for Vendor Lock-in

July 12, 2012

I am not an accountant. However, as a Graham and Dodd value investor over the years, I’ve picked up some of the fundamental principles. A key one is the Matching Principle, that revenues and expenses should be booked in a way that clarifies the underlying business performance, rather than based purely on the timing of [...]

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The BSA’s New Candlemakers

March 3, 2011

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) is at it again. They are claiming that new UK Cabinet Office policy in favor of open standards — the kind of standards that the web is built on and which has created billions in new economy jobs – is actually a bad thing, since it would (according to the [...]

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The Joy of Mathematics

February 9, 2009

The Wall Street Journal recently had an article on the best and worst jobs in the U.S., based on a mix of criteria including pay, stress level, work environment and employment outlook. Any guesses for the best jobs? The top 5 are: Mathematician Actuary Statistician Biologist Software Engineer The top three places reminds me of [...]

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The Value of Choice

June 21, 2007

Here in Westford, Massachusetts, some of our public schools have boilers that can be powered by natural gas or heating oil. This way the schools can have their choice of fuel, which they can alter year to year, or even month to month according to the comparative prices of these two commodities. Such a choice [...]

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Broken Windows and the Ghost of Keynes

January 3, 2007

Bad ideas never die. The latest relapse is: For every dollar of Microsoft revenue from Windows Vista in 2007 in the U.S., the ecosystem beyond Microsoft will reap $18 in revenues. In 2007 this ecosystem should sell about $70 billion in products and services revolving around Windows Vista. The source for this rosy forecast is [...]

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