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Well I understand what you're saying here, but you're over-thinking the problem (like an engineer). The point of the exercise was to get the students excited a

by proee 17y ago

Well I understand what you're saying here, but you're over-thinking the problem (like an engineer). The point of the exercise was to get the students excited about entrepreneurialism. The real world (read Wall Street) has plenty of constraints and people are always gaming the system to make a buck. So in this sense, it's a valid exercise. Edit: In terms of "gaming the system" I'd like to think of this as leveraging opportunities in the system for a particular gain, not "cheating" the system.

seldo 17y ago
Yes, because the lesson I really want people who are thinking of working on Wall Street to learn is that they should be trying to cheat the system.
- wizard_2 17y ago
  With wall street as with most things, there is no "outside the system" everything is the system even if other people don't recognize it. I'll argue outside the rules is still inside the system, and that not all rules are created equal. On another note, Breaking rules isn't what caused the recent wall street collapse it was a lack of looking ahead at consequences of actions.
  - jacobolus 17y ago
    Sure, and it's why we need to have both regulation on the front-end, and courts on the back end, to discourage attempts to "game" the "system", so that people's actions which benefit themselves are also beneficial to the society at large.
  - forensic 17y ago
    "Breaking rules isn't what caused the recent wall street collapse it was a lack of looking ahead at consequences of actions." Not really. All the people who caused the problem are still employed and still rich. So for those entrepreneurs, they are still succeeding. It is the USA public who are failing at being entrepreneurs, not Wall Street.
- jrockway 17y ago
  Pretty much everyone that cheated the system was rewarded by the keeper of the system. So this sounds like a good lesson to learn. "You don't get ultra-rich by being ethical and honest."
- bhousel 17y ago
  Do you really think it's reasonable to compare Wall Street to these lemonade-stand kinds of business school assignments? I'm starting to think there should be a "Godwin's Law" corollary -- as any discussion thread grows, the probability of comparisons to Wall Street approaches 1.

by proee 17y ago

seldo 17y ago

Yes, because the lesson I really want people who are thinking of working on Wall Street to learn is that they should be trying to cheat the system.

wizard_2 17y ago
With wall street as with most things, there is no "outside the system" everything is the system even if other people don't recognize it. I'll argue outside the rules is still inside the system, and that not all rules are created equal. On another note, Breaking rules isn't what caused the recent wall street collapse it was a lack of looking ahead at consequences of actions.
- jacobolus 17y ago
  Sure, and it's why we need to have both regulation on the front-end, and courts on the back end, to discourage attempts to "game" the "system", so that people's actions which benefit themselves are also beneficial to the society at large.
- forensic 17y ago
  "Breaking rules isn't what caused the recent wall street collapse it was a lack of looking ahead at consequences of actions." Not really. All the people who caused the problem are still employed and still rich. So for those entrepreneurs, they are still succeeding. It is the USA public who are failing at being entrepreneurs, not Wall Street.
jrockway 17y ago
Pretty much everyone that cheated the system was rewarded by the keeper of the system. So this sounds like a good lesson to learn. "You don't get ultra-rich by being ethical and honest."
bhousel 17y ago
Do you really think it's reasonable to compare Wall Street to these lemonade-stand kinds of business school assignments? I'm starting to think there should be a "Godwin's Law" corollary -- as any discussion thread grows, the probability of comparisons to Wall Street approaches 1.