Blog Jones

An interesting story from CNN: Christian CEOs bond for love and profit
God’s network: How Christian business owners help each other get rich and go to heaven

Hurricane Katrina is going to cost us a lot of money. Not only will it do immeasurable damage to New Orleans proper, but it’s going to wreak havoc with our refineries, which are already overtaxed: According to Hugh Hewitt:

Lousiana has 17 active refineries, producing about 16% of America’s fuel.

Total American refinery capacity utilization was at 93% in 2004.

American refineries are now operating at 97% capacity, processing 17 million barrels of oil a day (American consumes 20.6 million barrels of oil a day.)

If Katrina takes refinery capacity off-line, the effect at the pump will be immediate. Ther [sic] is no more capacity available to up output within the counry. Shortfalls will have to be made up from imported gasoline suppliers. They are unlikely to be moved by complaints of gauging from American congressmen.

Ouch.

* AT 1137 AM CDT…WIDESPREAD FLOODING WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE
PARISHES ALONG THE SOUTH SHORE OF LAKE PONCHARTRAIN IN THE GREATER
NEW ORLEANS AREA…AS WELL AS IN PORTIONS OF PLAQUEMINES PARISH.
THIS CONTINUES TO BE AN EXTREMELY LIFE THREATENING SITUATION. THOSE
SEEKING REFUGE IN ATTICS AND ROOF-TOPS ARE STRONGLY URGED TO TAKE
THE NECESSARY TOOLS FOR SURVIVAL. FOR EXAMPLE…THOSE GOING INTO
ATTICS SHOULD TRY TO TAKE AN AXE OR HATCHET WITH THEM SO THEY CAN
CUT THEIR WAY ONTO THE ROOF TO AVOID DROWNING SHOULD RISING FLOOD
WATERS CONTINUE TO RISE INTO THE ATTIC.

The internet, and blogging in particular, offers the ultimate form of word-of-mouth advertising. A new product can be released, friends tell friends from all over the world, and the product can be a big hit.

Of course, the downside is that if your product or service stinks, then those same friends will be influenced not to buy from you, and the internet is full of great examples like this one from the The Patriette about Northwest Airlines and its customer service department.

Indeed, it seems that the vast majority of complaints that I read are the result of incompetent, lazy, or undertrained customer service departments. Another couple of examples: The widely read Gizmodo’s take-down of T-Mobile has convinced me to never, ever purchase a T-Mobile product, and Joe Peacock’s epic 7-part customer service torture session with Dell has made me skittish about buying from them. (Fair warning about Peacock’s post: He does swear on occasion; use a profanity filter.)

So, business leaders, here’s my message to you: Quit treating the customer service like an expense. Quit trying to cut costs by minimizing training budgets and outsourcing overseas. Remember that A) It’s much easier–and cheaper–to keep the customer you have than to get a new one and that B) that customer you offend or irritate can and probably will tell as many people as he or she can.

(I won’t bore you with a whole post about having a happy new year. Just have one, OK? No terrorism, no elections, no natural disasters, no high-profile murder investigations. Let’s have a quiet year for once?)

Anyways.

When I changed my major to Comprehensive Business last year, that meant that I was required to take micro- and macroeconomics. I found it to be very dull and uninteresting at the time, but I’ve since revised my opinion, largely because of posts like this one over at Agoraphilia. In this particular post he talks about the long-abandoned practice of dueling as method of conflict resolution, as well as trial by ordeal and wartime atrocities.

What interests me about Agoraphilia is that the authors use economic terms and theories to address all kinds of issues. Allow me to quote his first paragraph:

Tyler Cowen makes an interesting point about duels: they may have served to facilitate conflict resolution. Counterintuitive, but true. Think of nemeses as being engaged in a two-stage game. In the first stage of the game, they try to negotiate to a peaceful settlement of their differences. In the second stage they fight a duel, and this stage is only reached if the first stage results in a stalemate instead of a resolution. If the second stage occurs, both parties can anticipate a high expected cost. (This is true even if you?re the superior gunman. Even if there?s a 90% chance you?ll win, a 10% chance of death or serious injury is nothing to scoff at.) As a result, both parties have a strong incentive to reach a mutually agreeable settlement in the first stage of the game.

You see?

All economic theory is based on a single concept: all human beings seek out the things that they believe will bring them the most utility, or pleasure, at the least cost. In essence, economics is the study of human motivation, and so it applies to many more situations than a textbook might initially reveal. Agoraphilia is great at pulling back the veil of ennui that so often shrouds the field of economics.

(I’m proud of that last sentence. Is it overwrought? Probably! Am I keeping it anyways? Yes!)

I found the post about Santaism to be particularly insightful, and I’ll again quote the first paragraph here:

Lots of parents lie to their children, repeatedly and ardently, about the existence of Santa Claus. Why? Santaism imposes large costs on parents, both the moral costs of lying and the opportunity costs of losing credit for well-regarded gifts. Yet Santaism does not appear to offer countervailing benefits. You don’t need that mythical construct to tie good behavior to good gifts; parents routinely use carrots and sticks to get their kids to act appropriately. As d said of Santa Claus last night, during our long drive home from a dinner party, “What’s in it for the parents?”

The rest of the post and the comments are mostly dedicated to answering that final question.

Conclusion: It’s a great blog. Five stars out of five. Go read it.