Ask DcifrThs... ANYTHING (aka "should we privatize social security")

[DcifrThs]

[ QUOTE ]
dcifr,

what is the matrix exponential of {{0,-1},{1,0}}?

[/ QUOTE ]

these are not the droids you are looking for.

Barron

[cdxx]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

dcifr,

regulations were also put in place to protect the companies from being taken over by funds/speculators. while the investors could be informed of higher risks by the fund's prospectus (another form of disclosure regulation, btw), does the HF industry need to be regulated to protect the companies?

[/ QUOTE ]

do you mean does the HF industry need to be regulated to protect the hedge fudns (i.e. HFs buying other HFs? ) or HF's buying companies on the open market (like KKR etc. )?

HF's should be treated no differently than an acquiring company. the only differnce would be the forms required to be submitted to the regulatory bodies (if a HF acquired GOOG vs. GOOG acquiring yahoo FTC restrictions notwithstanding)

Barron

[/ QUOTE ]

i meant the second case, HF buying companies in the open market. HF could be accumulating large blocks of GOOG and YouTube, and then steering GOOG management to put out a bid on YouTube.

similarly, if HF acquisitions were to be approved by the FTC, like the mergers between Google and Yahoo, the whole process would slow down considerably.

as a contrast, MF regulations were put in place to effectively separate MF interests from those of the companies trading in the open market.

[DcifrThs]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I've heard that Bridgewater will ask big open ended questions (death penalty, etc) and attack your logic. It's not necessarily about the content, but how you structure your argument. Don't forget about counterarguments. Also, anyone in the firm might pop in and debate you--from Dalia on down.

[/ QUOTE ]

Dalia, huh? LOL.

[/ QUOTE ]

you're late on the joke, please to see my previous response:

[ QUOTE ]
what is 'bridgewater' and who is this dalia character [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

nevertheless, feel free to bring it up again b/c in terms of spelling errors, thats a very funny one...timing, placement, and everything.

Barron

[RayPowers]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
(hoping my couple of questions so far are at least marginally useful)

Would you support a method of removing anonymity from the internet, and why or why not?

Ray

[/ QUOTE ]

i dont remember which ones were yours but if i answered them they almost certainly helped in practicing and i appreciate your assistance!

11:40am

the US should not be in the business of policing the internet. our biggest fears and the largest costs of allowing anonymity would probably reside in our financial and defense institutions' websites. those institutions (and others who posses info for which there are large incentives to obtain) are well qualified to handle the threats imposed by their existance.

regulating the internet or reducing anonymity is likely to cost more in terms fo time/effort/dollars (possibly tax dollars) than it's worth.

if reducing anonymity were to somehowe vastly reduce internet crime or real world crime beyond the costs of its implementation, then we should look into ways in which to acheive that goal.

however, for now, i dont believe we should regulate privacy on the internet.

Barron

[/ QUOTE ]

I didn't like this answer.

I don't like the way the first sentence modifies the question. I said nothing about the U.S. I also don't like an argument of "will cost more than it's worth." I realize you have a time constraint, but with no explanation of the costs you see vs the worth you see, this sentence really doesn't seem to hold much value.

Just my 2 cents on that one.

Ray

[DcifrThs]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

dcifr,

regulations were also put in place to protect the companies from being taken over by funds/speculators. while the investors could be informed of higher risks by the fund's prospectus (another form of disclosure regulation, btw), does the HF industry need to be regulated to protect the companies?

[/ QUOTE ]

do you mean does the HF industry need to be regulated to protect the hedge fudns (i.e. HFs buying other HFs? ) or HF's buying companies on the open market (like KKR etc. )?

HF's should be treated no differently than an acquiring company. the only differnce would be the forms required to be submitted to the regulatory bodies (if a HF acquired GOOG vs. GOOG acquiring yahoo FTC restrictions notwithstanding)

Barron

[/ QUOTE ]

i meant the second case, HF buying companies in the open market. HF could be accumulating large blocks of GOOG and YouTube, and then steering GOOG management to put out a bid on YouTube.

similarly, if HF acquisitions were to be approved by the FTC, like the mergers between Google and Yahoo, the whole process would slow down considerably.

as a contrast, MF regulations were put in place to effectively separate MF interests from those of the companies trading in the open market.

[/ QUOTE ]

i'm pretty sure the same conflict of interest and securities fraud laws exist no matter who is doing the buying/selling.

i may be wrong, and if so, please explain your example further.

Barron

[DcifrThs]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
(hoping my couple of questions so far are at least marginally useful)

Would you support a method of removing anonymity from the internet, and why or why not?

Ray

[/ QUOTE ]

i dont remember which ones were yours but if i answered them they almost certainly helped in practicing and i appreciate your assistance!

11:40am

the US should not be in the business of policing the internet. our biggest fears and the largest costs of allowing anonymity would probably reside in our financial and defense institutions' websites. those institutions (and others who posses info for which there are large incentives to obtain) are well qualified to handle the threats imposed by their existance.

regulating the internet or reducing anonymity is likely to cost more in terms fo time/effort/dollars (possibly tax dollars) than it's worth.

if reducing anonymity were to somehowe vastly reduce internet crime or real world crime beyond the costs of its implementation, then we should look into ways in which to acheive that goal.

however, for now, i dont believe we should regulate privacy on the internet.

Barron

[/ QUOTE ]

I didn't like this answer.

I don't like the way the first sentence modifies the question. I said nothing about the U.S. I also don't like an argument of "will cost more than it's worth." I realize you have a time constraint, but with no explanation of the costs you see vs the worth you see, this sentence really doesn't seem to hold much value.

Just my 2 cents on that one.

Ray

[/ QUOTE ]

good points. i assumed immediately (incorrectly) that we were talking about the internet in this country.

allow me a 2nd attempt:

11:54am

phrased as a personal question.

how much is it worth to me to have privacy completely removed from the internet?

it would harm me in the sense that anybody could figure out who i am and take away the free voice i have in an anonymous place.

my curiousity would be quenched in terms of knowing to whom i'm speaking over the internet.

moving out from my personal costs/benefits, it could be the case that anonymous individuals commit immoral (and harmful to others) acts on the internet that they would otherwise commit in real life and vice versa. weighing those costs in terms of how anonymity effects those decisions and how a criminal in that case would act would certainly be part of my analysis here.

allowing for the existance of a way to accomplish the reduction of privacy, i dont think it would be to my personal benefit since more people would gain from knowing who i am than i would in knowing who they are.

HOWEVER< and this is the biggest thing, if no anonymity would greatly reduce internet crime overall then i would gladly be for it as a methodology to reduce the incentive to commit the crime. TIME

tough question

Barron

[econophile]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
should the content of primary and secondary education change to better prepare students to compete in a global market? if so, how? if not, why?

[/ QUOTE ]

<3 you econophile [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

11:32am

the US should seek to maximize its future ability to invent and perpetuate its economic standing.

we should first look at our standings in the educational fields that are the strongest determinants of success in those two areas. intellectual capital is extremely important to maintain and grow.

if it is determined by research that our relative standing in the world is sufficient (taking into acct the rate of growth of other countries' growth of intelectual capital) to maintain or grow or position in the world then our system should not be changed.

if, however, we are being overtaken over time, or are currently lacking in fields that jeopordize our standing, then we should act to rectify that situation.

for instance, if mathematics is suddenly waning in the US, then we should give incentives to schools that show improvements year on year in that area.TIME

good question, i dont think i did enough to outline the "why" but can you give feedback on what i put forth so far? i would certainly appreciate your help and input.

Barron

[/ QUOTE ]

if i was interviewing you, i'd probably follow up your respongse by asking what do you mean by intellectual capital and how should it be measured?

[RayPowers]

I liked that one a lot more. Yeah I was asking it as a personal question. And this time you went into some details of the benefits vs issues you see with the removal.

Ray

[DcifrThs]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
should the content of primary and secondary education change to better prepare students to compete in a global market? if so, how? if not, why?

[/ QUOTE ]

<3 you econophile [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

11:32am

the US should seek to maximize its future ability to invent and perpetuate its economic standing.

we should first look at our standings in the educational fields that are the strongest determinants of success in those two areas. intellectual capital is extremely important to maintain and grow.

if it is determined by research that our relative standing in the world is sufficient (taking into acct the rate of growth of other countries' growth of intelectual capital) to maintain or grow or position in the world then our system should not be changed.

if, however, we are being overtaken over time, or are currently lacking in fields that jeopordize our standing, then we should act to rectify that situation.

for instance, if mathematics is suddenly waning in the US, then we should give incentives to schools that show improvements year on year in that area.TIME

good question, i dont think i did enough to outline the "why" but can you give feedback on what i put forth so far? i would certainly appreciate your help and input.

Barron

[/ QUOTE ]

if i was interviewing you, i'd probably follow up your respongse by asking what do you mean by intellectual capital and how should it be measured?

[/ QUOTE ]

ty.

i would define intellectual capital the relationship between our relative levels of education (relative to the rest of the world) and our productivity and innovation levels (as can be measured by the patents, products, etc. produced on an annual basis)

Barron

[fish2plus2]

Let see if you are really worth your salt. Answer these questions and I will check if you are right or wrong. No cheating.

46-4

Q: Explain briefly how you would decide which of the following two events
is the more unusual:

a. A 90 degree day in Vermont.
b. A 100 degree day in Florida.

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50-1

Q: In what sense is the mean of any distribution the "best guess"
of the score of any single individual selected at random from
the group?

a. In a series of such guesses, the sum of the errors in one
direction will balance the sum of the errors in the other
direction.

b. The mean score will occur more often than any other single
score.

c. The chances are 50-50 that any individual will be above or
below the mean.

d. All the above are true.

e. None of the above is true.

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715-1

Q: The heights of a sample of ten people are:

67 73 70 60 67 66 68 71 70 67.

Which are the correct real limits for the frequency table given below?

Frequency (a) (b) (c)

1 60.5-63.5 60-62 59.5-62.5
0 63.5-66.5 63-65 62.5-65.5
5 66.5-69.5 66-68 65.5-68.5
3 69.5-72.5 69-71 68.5-71.5
1 72.5-75.5 72-74 71.5-74.5

(1) Column a is correct
(2) Column b is correct
(3) Column c is correct
(4) All of columns a,b,c are correct
(5) None of columns a,b,c are correct

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717-1

Q: Ms. Sweetwater's biology class had a standard deviation of 2.4 on a
standardized test, while Ms. Quincy's biology had a standard deviation
of 1.2 on the same test. What can be said about these two classes?
a. Ms. Sweetwater's class is more homogeneous than Ms. Quincy's.
b. Ms. Quincy's class is less heterogeneous than Ms. Sweetwater's.
c. Ms. Quincy's class did less well on the test than Ms. Sweet-
water's.
d. Ms. Sweetwater's class performed twice as well on the test as
Ms. Quincy's.

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723-1

Q: A large mass of data can best be summarized pictorially by means
of:

a. the range
b. a histogram
c. the frequency table
d. XBAR and S(Y**2)

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1014-1

Q: For a symmetric distribution, the mean and median are
1. the same
2. always different
3. possibly the same, possibly different
4. insufficient information.

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1016-1

Q: Consider the following data:
1, 7, 3, 3, 6, 4

The mean and median for this data are:

A. 4 and 3 D. 4.8 and 3
B. 4.8 and 3 1/2 E. 4 and 3 1/2
C. 4 and 3 1/3

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1021-1

Q: A distribution of 6 scores has a median of 21. If the highest score
increases 3 points, the median will become ___________.

a. 21
b. 21.5
c. 24
d. Cannot be determined without additional information.
e. none of these

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1403-1

Q: Consider the following data:

53, 61, 38, 65, 72, 58, 52, 63, 69, 74, 66

You are given that SUM(i = 1, 11)(Y(i) - YBAR)**2 = 1082
and SUM(i = 1, 11)(Y(i)) = 671.

i) Find YBAR, the sample mean.

a) 67.1 b) 98.4 c) 108.2 d) 61.0
e) None of the above

ii) Find S**2, the sample variance.

a) 98 4/11 b) 108.2 c) 0 d) 67.1
e) None of the above

1743-1

Q: The sample mean of the following sample

X Frequency of X
-----------------------------------
2 1
3 2
4 3

is: (1) 3
(2) 2
(3) 20
(4) 20/9 = 2.22
(5) 20/6 = 3.33

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1743-2

Q: If the mean, median and mode of a distribution are 5, 6, 7 respec-
tively, then the distribution is:

1. skewed negatively
2. not skewed
3. skewed positively
4. symmetrical
5. bimodal.

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1745-1

Q: Which of the following measures of central tendency tends to
be most influenced by an extreme score?

a. median
b. mode
c. mean

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1745-3

Q: In a frequency distribution of 250 scores, the mean is reported as 78
and the median as 65. One would expect this distribution to be

a. positively skewed.
b. negatively skewed.
c. symmetrical but not rectangular or normal.
d. normal.
e. rectangular.

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1746-1

Q: The measure of central tendency which is sensitive to extreme scores
on the higher or lower end of a distribution is the:

a. median.
b. mean.
c. mode.
d. all of the above
e. none of the above

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1746-3

Q: Which of the following is not a measure of central tendency?

a. mean d. standard deviation
b. median e. none of these
c. mode

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1797-2

Q: In a group of 12 scores, the largest score is increased by 36 points.
What effect will this have on the mean of the scores?
a. it will be increased by 12 points
b. it will remain unchanged
c. it will be increased by 3 points
d. it will increase by 36 points
e. there is no way of knowing exactly how many points the mean
will be increased.

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1799-2

Q: The quantity SUM(X - XBAR) is not used as a measure of dispersion
because it is:

(a) always equal to zero
(b) always a positive value
(c) too difficult to work with
(d) always a negative value.

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1802-3

Q: In popular usage, the term average may refer to:

a. The mean
b. The median
c. The mode
d. None of these
e. All of these

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1803-1

Q: The mean is a measure of:

a. variability.
b. position.
c. skewness.
d. central tendency.
e. symmetry.

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1805-2

Q: The mean of the following data is:

X(I) Freq(I)
----------------
0 4
1 3
2 1
3 0
4 1

a. 9/5
b. 9
c. 9/4
d. 1
e. none of the above

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1810-1

Q: Consider the following data:

-4, 3, 8, -2, 7, 7, 6, 11, 4, 10

The mean XBAR of the data above is

(a) 4.00 (d) 5.60
(b) 4.60 (e) none of these.
(c) 5.00

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1811-1

Q: A sample of 5 persons with hypertension underwent a special blood-
pressure-reducing treatment program which resulted in the following
reductions in systolic blood pressure for these persons (i.e. the
scores give SBP after treatment - SBP before treatment): -5, 10,
20, 5, 10. The mean of this sample is

a. 10 b. 9 c. 8 d. 40 e. none of these

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1820-3

Q: If a teacher computes the mean for a set of test scores and then
subtracts this mean from each score, the SUM of the resulting set of
difference scores will equal

a. zero.
b. unity.
c. n, the number of scores.
d. the mean.
e. n times the mean.

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