4 ms·

Happy to be alive, no assistance. What don't you find coherent in my post? >irremediably tainted by the vileness of Bernie Madoff. My point here is that, while

by rhl 16y ago

Happy to be alive, no assistance. What don't you find coherent in my post? >irremediably tainted by the vileness of Bernie Madoff. My point here is that, while Ponzi schemes used to be a mostly overlooked white collar crime and a curiosity for the students of economics, they now have come to light in a very public manner and came to personify all the excesses of Wall Street pre-2008.

yesbabyyes 16y ago
It's difficult to not interpret you as saying that Ponzi schemes are kind of charming, and Bernie Madoff gave them a bad rep. Ponzi schemes are devastating and destroys economies. When Albania was first liberalized after Hoxha, half the population got frauded and the economy folded. The population threw over the government and it became a failed state. Similar events unfolded in Russia and many other former Soviet states, after their economies opened up - although with less devastating consequences. In Haiti, it's estimated that 60% of the GDP was swindled from the people in one of the poorest societies on earth. In the Philippines, there have been a number of Ponzi schemes during the 00s. There is nothing charming or clever about it, at all.
- rhl 16y ago
  Got it, and yes you're right. Ponzi schemes are devastating, and I see how my post could be misinterpreted. My bad, really. To clear things up regarding Facebook and the original link as well, I should explain that I have a really hard time believing what the original poster says about their ads. It might very well be that a lot of people fail to use them in a meaningful way because they haven't thought through what makes Facebook advertisement unique. I am certain that a sizeable fraction of the ad market can and will exploit them, and especially the infinitely granular targeting. My experience as a user is a bit mixed (lots of crap and/or scam, and thankfully less and less social games silliness as I've downvoted it), but I've seem true gems too (job ads targeting my university + degree + class, pretty neat! -- or a nice ad campaign by Hulu in its early days that targeted a show I had just listed as one of my interests). All in all, the future of FB is pretty bright in my book. Edit: Also, I should point out that I do not think at all that Facebook's business has anything fraudulent, improper or immoral. My original post (second from the top) was just trying to explain why someone who held the post's author's views on FB ads could believe the company was fundamentally instable and depended on perpetual growth for survival. I personally don't agree with this view, and think they'll be just fine -- and apparently I'm not alone: http://techcrunch.com/2010/01/20/facebook-valued-at-14-billion-on-secondmarket/ http://techcrunch.com/2010/01/20/facebook-valued-at-14-billi...
rortian 16y ago
Several things. You ramble on about an insane version of the origins of the term Ponzi scheme. I asked what quantity you were taking a quantity of, you explain that in fact you meant to allude to Speed. You could have said revenue or costumers buying adds (which you eventually do). You imagine that Ponzi schemes are only of interest to econ students, but as the other poster said many people have been taken by the schemes and it is in no ones interest to have that happen.

by rhl 16y ago

yesbabyyes 16y ago

It's difficult to not interpret you as saying that Ponzi schemes are kind of charming, and Bernie Madoff gave them a bad rep. Ponzi schemes are devastating and destroys economies. When Albania was first liberalized after Hoxha, half the population got frauded and the economy folded. The population threw over the government and it became a failed state. Similar events unfolded in Russia and many other former Soviet states, after their economies opened up - although with less devastating consequences. In Haiti, it's estimated that 60% of the GDP was swindled from the people in one of the poorest societies on earth. In the Philippines, there have been a number of Ponzi schemes during the 00s. There is nothing charming or clever about it, at all.

rhl 16y ago
Got it, and yes you're right. Ponzi schemes are devastating, and I see how my post could be misinterpreted. My bad, really. To clear things up regarding Facebook and the original link as well, I should explain that I have a really hard time believing what the original poster says about their ads. It might very well be that a lot of people fail to use them in a meaningful way because they haven't thought through what makes Facebook advertisement unique. I am certain that a sizeable fraction of the ad market can and will exploit them, and especially the infinitely granular targeting. My experience as a user is a bit mixed (lots of crap and/or scam, and thankfully less and less social games silliness as I've downvoted it), but I've seem true gems too (job ads targeting my university + degree + class, pretty neat! -- or a nice ad campaign by Hulu in its early days that targeted a show I had just listed as one of my interests). All in all, the future of FB is pretty bright in my book. Edit: Also, I should point out that I do not think at all that Facebook's business has anything fraudulent, improper or immoral. My original post (second from the top) was just trying to explain why someone who held the post's author's views on FB ads could believe the company was fundamentally instable and depended on perpetual growth for survival. I personally don't agree with this view, and think they'll be just fine -- and apparently I'm not alone: http://techcrunch.com/2010/01/20/facebook-valued-at-14-billion-on-secondmarket/ http://techcrunch.com/2010/01/20/facebook-valued-at-14-billi...

rortian 16y ago

Several things. You ramble on about an insane version of the origins of the term Ponzi scheme. I asked what quantity you were taking a quantity of, you explain that in fact you meant to allude to Speed. You could have said revenue or costumers buying adds (which you eventually do). You imagine that Ponzi schemes are only of interest to econ students, but as the other poster said many people have been taken by the schemes and it is in no ones interest to have that happen.