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

[El Diablo]

Dcifr,

What should the US role be regarding foreign aid?

What impact would it have on the global economy to forgive all debt to third world nations?

Should the United Nations exist, why or why not?

How big will the Indian and Chinese economies be as compared to the US economy in 20 years?

What would be the impact on the global economy of worldwide free trade agreements?

[DcifrThs]

[ QUOTE ]
Should hedge funds be regulated?

[/ QUOTE ]

good one [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

time started outlining 11:03pm...GO...(outline form probably isn't going to work)

regulation was initially instituted to protect investors. SEC and NASD attempt to legimize and protect public companies and those that invest in them. mutual funds (and investment vehicles) formed by private and public banks that take institutional investors money in order to give returns have a responsibility to those investors. thus, short sales and other types of riskier activities are, and have been, prohibited in certain investment vehicles to protect investors.

hedge funds allow for higher returns and more risky behavior b/c the alpha producing mechanism is unconstrained. this is outlined in their prospecti and those who invest in them are aware of the increased risks.

therfore, hedge funds should be unregulated (F*CK .. 11:08 pm now) 5 minutes is not a lot of time.

ok, after thoughts. good question. TY.

more time could be spent talking about institutional investors/pension funds etc being allowed to invest in hedge funds. in that case, "regulations" could be made, of the public/institutional money rather than on the hedge funds (aka a regulation that stipulates instititional investors, investing public mani should only be allowed to invest in certain types of hedge funds or none at all).

critiques of my answer please.

Barron

[NajdorfDefense]

Should there be any limitations on HF leverage? If so, proscribed by the market? the feds? State AGs? Regulatory bodies? Self-regulated?

How would you address the coming train wreck of SS/Medicare vis-a-vis the demographic changes that are coming in a politically palatable way?

Is it moral to file for bankruptcy just so an LBO/HF can eliminate a pension plan for 50k workers and give themselves 100% of the new equity and then re-IPO? Why/why not?

You are starting a new hub-and-spoke airline [routing system] in the US. Where would you put your 3 hubs? Why?

[DcifrThs]

[ QUOTE ]
If you were CEO of Google would you have acquired YouTube?

-Al

[/ QUOTE ]

11:12pm. GO.

google has a market position as one of the (if not the) biggest sources for online advertising revenue. this revenue stream is tough to grow at an increasing or even constant rate over the long run. Google does need to acquire websites that would allow it to artificiall grow (as opposed to organically grow) its online advertising revenue.

I think GOOG should acquire youtube (or should have). the cost of doing so would be overpayment due to copycat sites becoming more clicked on in the future.

the benefits of the acquisition are strong presence in the video hosting arena of online adv. revenue creation. youtube has been growing recently and it seems it is clicked on at an increasing rate allowing GOOG the opportunity to grow it's video hosting capabilities.

it probably is not able to do that organically w/ GOOG video search engine it currently has running. allowing a competitor to acquire the site is dangerous b/c as of now, GOOG has a top presence in almost every aspect of its chosen business.

further, youtube and goog make good bedfellows. youtube's search engine for video finding can be optimized by goog's strong experience in the area. large synergies like that are what goog should look for in acquisition (TIME 11:17)

damn that time creeps up fast.

another great question...but i think a better (and tougher one) would be "did GOOG pay too much" which would force the angle of quantifying the revenue stream's benefits in the future.

Barron

[Jingleheimer]

What is an appropriate compensation structure for hedge fund management?

What self-policing should hedge funds implement to avoid the inevitable government oversight and regulation or would regulation be a good thing?

What is the difference between e.g. and a.k.a.?

[Scary_Tiger]

Should the US scrap income tax/social security and move to a national sales tax instead, e.g. The Fair Tax? (http://www.fairtax.org)

[jcmoussa]

Why isnt El D online, i wanted to discuss Brandi with him.

[DcifrThs]

[ QUOTE ]
If you had to bet on a single market sector in China, which one and why?

If you could run 1 company in the States which one and why (must be Fortune 500). Same for Asia (>$US1B market cap).

-Al

[/ QUOTE ]

China sector Q: 11:19 GO.

short run vs. long run. i'll stick w/ SR for now.

short run id pick online advertising or online retail.

short run analysis: 1.4b people in china. some % have internet connections. that % is growing. chinese market will not be approaching saturation any time soon. more people means more clicks means more advertising revenue for sites like google. tough to pick between those and onlien retail. retail is going to probably be more valueable if the hesitation to use credit cards/bank transactions online is overcome very quickly. if not, i think advertising. govt regulation though may hamper this also, however, i think the conversion to a free market economy in this area will be sufficient (TIME)

sh*t i sucked at that one.

tough ass question.
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11:24pm im done for now, GF just came over...do more tomorrow / later. i'll proceed in order asked.

Barron

[Kneel B4 Zod]

[ QUOTE ]
another great question...but i think a better (and tougher one) would be "did GOOG pay too much" which would force the angle of quantifying the revenue stream's benefits in the future.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think that's a relatively straightforward math problem which would only test your previous knowledge of Youtube revenue. the broad strategic issues are more interesting and will give your interviewers better insight into your critical thinking.