Saturday, February 24, 2007
10:34 PM
We were discussing the question on the impact of an unexpected windfall on current savings in class yday and this was what happened:
Chinese boy: "I thought windfall is a loss in income since it's a fall?"
Teacher: "Erm.. No.. It's like winning a lottery. did anyone else got mixed up by the term 'windfall'?"
As expected, no one raised their hands. Just as the teacher was about to continue..
Puzzeled looking boy with funny accent: "What does the term windfall means? Where did it come from?"
Teacher: *pause* "It's like an apple tree, and then the wind blows and you get apples..."
*silence*
and the whole class burst into laughters.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
5:34 AM
Pareto Efficiency is a very selfish concept because it occurs when it is impossible to make one better off without making another worse off.
Friday, February 16, 2007
1:18 AM
I am feeling the after effects of a mahjong session and an interupted R.E.M. sleep cycle right now. The lousy 3-in-1 Super brand coffe with cinnamon is kinda gross, but I'm starting to get used to its taste. I think what I really needed was a Tall Mocha from Starbucks. Obviously my abstinence from caffeine has long been broken ever since the 2006/07 academic year started. I miss my daily freshly brewed Indonesian coffee and Straits Times =(
I managed to keep myself awake throughout the 2 hour micro lect just now despite the lights at Peacock Theatre being so dim and condusive for dozing off. Luckily this lecturer is so much more interesting compared to last term, and the Rawlsian Theory managed to keep me on track with his lecture while the rest of the lecture group entertained themselves by making irritating noises throughout the lecture. If I wasn't feeling so jaded, I would have enjoyed the lecture even more since the lecturer kept making reference as to how welfare economics affects social policy making. And he mentioned behavioural economics, and it got me thinking about philosophy of economics. But I am not such a hardcore person and therefore I will not choose that module next year.
alright I just got a call from my friend and I got to run. shall not bore pple with micro anymore.
Monday, February 12, 2007
7:11 PM
1) School is currently closed due to power failure.
2) The power would not be restored for the next 5 hours and may be back in the evening.
3) I got a class at 5pm and I am scheduled to have my presentation today.
I don't know if I should be glad that school's close, or that my longest day has suddenly became unpacked. In a way I want to get my presentation over and done with, so that I am done with ALL my presentations for this academic year, and I wonder how they are gonna make up for the loss of 1 day of school cirriculum.
It seems like February has been a pretty bad month for London. Yes we did get heavy snow for the first time in 7 years, but as a result all transportation was affected, schools were closed, man hours were lost, and there is that bird flu scare at Bernard Matthews and all that turkey culling. A current power failure in Central London since last night due to a burst water main, can things just get any worse?
The good thing is... I am not really affected by all this 'disasters'. I am glad that i can just sit in front of my tiny table and happily type away while those people are standing outside Aldwych now wondering when the power would be restored. Oh well, I wonder how this country is going to host the Olypimcs 2012. World Cup 2018? Don't even think about it.
Friday, February 02, 2007
7:39 AM
im beginning to discover my long lost interest for social policy. im starting to look at the household surveys differently and i should start thinking about my hypothesis. argh. this week has passed by rather quickly and i felt as though i havent done any work. a few nights ago i started remembering why i wanted to do social science and i realised that i have been too caught up with reality to truly appreciate the subject. anw im beginning to enjoy macroeconomics again! (but why why why couldnt i explain how i/r was determined at that point of time?!?!) micro is a bit too technical for my liking. but nonetheless economics is a very interesting subject. for a moment i was inspired to be a macroeconomist but the thought of studying till PhD killed the idea instantly.