Does our educational system, especially the university system, create value? Should it? If it does, what value does it create? If it should, what value should it create? My last two posts were about creating value and our relation to the value chain, and this is a continuation of the same line of thought. This is especially relevant, because my son is about to enter university, in Fall 2012. While we are agonizing over the decision of where he should go, what he should study, and how we will fund this endeavor, my mind always wanders back to the question of value – “Why is he going in the first place?” Continue reading
Tag Archives: value
Do Any of Us Really Understand Value?
I was having a conversation with a colleague about “value” and what the financial “industry” does that creates value. I realized that he and I didn’t agree on the origin of value. He believed that value is defined by the consumer, and that whatever someone will pay for is inherently valuable. I believe that value is defined by need Continue reading
Creating Value – what the economy is supposed to do…
I am not an economist, nor am I a student of economic theory. I have a limited understanding of the theories of money, and as simple understanding of the principles of capital markets. But I do understand the theory of value. Value is created when humans expend effort toward the creation of a product, or towards the execution of a service. Those products and services have a cost (unit effort + material input + a share of (infrastructure + marketing)), and in a relatively unconstrained market (no such thing as a free market) the products and services have a value (how much someone will pay for it). Continue reading