Sunday, February 09, 2003

A friend of mine had an interview with Roland Berger today.  The interview happened in two parts; the first part was a genial, get-to-know-you session, and the second was a fierce, no-holds-barred attempt to get you to crack under pressure. The case given to my friend was the following: estimate the number of Audi TT sports cars sold in France each year.  I tried this myself, and got a number that was 200% over (i.e. three times over) the actual figure.  My friend got a number that was 20% off.  He's really sharp! Write to me if you want the answer, and (more importantly) the methodology.   12:33:04 AM    comment []

Last night I finished a book report for my Ethical Dilemma class.  The assignment was quite vague: pick a book and review it in 500 words.  I chose "Mad Money", a work about the balance of power between markets and governments; most of you know that I have a long-standing interest in economics and public policy.  I'm a terrible writer, and didn't really know where to start.  So I went to The Economist and read several of their reviews.  Remarkably, most of them were around the same length, and I liked their style, so I have written my report in that way.  The only way I can become a better writer is to get other people's opinions, so read it and tell me what you think! 12:16:06 AM    comment []