Archive for 11 December 2006
Who Are (Really) the Cheese-Eating Surrender-Monkeys?
| Nicolai Foss |
My co-blogger is very fond of France, the French, etc. (And me? Well, I have actually lived there ;-)). In a recent post, Peter cited the familiar neo-con characterization of the French as “cheese-eating surrender-monkeys.” Here is Mark Steyn reflecting on who the real CESM are:
I’ve never subscribed to that whole “cheese-eating surrender-monkeys” sneer … As a neo-con warmonger, I yield to no one in my contempt for the French, but that said, cheese-wise I feel they have the edge. … In America, unpasteurized un-aged raw cheese that would be standard in any Continental fromagerie is banned. Americans, so zealous in defense of their liberties when it comes to guns, are happy to roll over for the nanny state when it comes to the cheese board. … The French may be surrender-monkeys on the battlefield, but they don’t throw their hands up and flee in terror just because the Brie’s a bit ripe (pp. 181-182 in America Alone, Regnery Publishing, 2006).
France may be the most commie nation in the World, but CESM they ain’t!
Awards in Firms?
| Nicolai Foss |
This is the third post on the economics of awards (see here and here), prompted by Bruno Frey’s recent work on the subject.
When we think of awards, most of us can easily come up with examples from public hierarchies, the military, sports, and volunteering, humanitarian and religious organizations, where awards are bestowed upon employees or members, or to public organizations/the state/the monarch bestowing awards upon citizens.
The only example that comes immediately to mind from for-profit organizations is that of employee-of-the-month awards. (more…)
Interview with Oliver Williamson
| Peter Klein |
Here is Oliver Williamson, interviewed on video by Ken Train (requires RealPlayer).
Others in the series include Nobel Laureates George Akerlof and Dan McFadden as well as David Card, Hal Varian, and Janet Yellen. (Thanks to Michael Greinecker for the tip.)
CCSM 2006
| Nicolai Foss |
In case you have been wondering why O&M star blogger, Peter Klein, has only blogged once over the last couple of days — unheard of in the history of O&M — here is part of the reason: Peter is on his way to the Copenhagen Conference on Strategic Management which will begin tomorrow (Tuesday), organized by the Center that I direct here at CBS.
The CCSM will feature several great speakers, such as Jay Barney, Rich Makadok, Yves Doz, Peter Lorange, Alan Rugman, and my co-blogger. It is the second time we are doing the CCSM. The format is to have about 70-80 participants with high-quality papers.
Not only is my co-blogger joining me for the CCSM, guest blogger Lasse Lien will also be in Copenhagen for the event. Lasse has promised to deliver some real-time blogging from the conference.
Dilemmas of Formal Economic Theory
| Peter Klein |
In “Dilemmas of an Economic Theorist” (Econometrica, July 2006) Ariel Rubinstein reflects on the meaning, implications, and relevance of formal economic modeling:
What are we trying to accomplish as economic theorists? We essentially play with toys called models. We have the luxury of remaining children over the course of our entire professional lives and we are even well paid for it. We get to call ourselves economists and the public naively thinks that we are improving the economy’s performance, increasing the rate of growth, or preventing economic catastrophes. Of course, we can justify this image by repeating some of the same fancy sounding slogans we use in our grant proposals, but do we ourselves believe in those slogans?
Rubinstein goes on to identify four dilemmas facing the formal economic theorist: (more…)
Organizations and Markets 
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