Conference 3
Updated 2018-06-04
Conference 3
Agenda
Major Project
Thesis
The first stage of the major project.
Intent is to take all the concepts in the course and wrap it around a single comprehensive issue.
The thesis / problem statement could be simple as “evaluating the purchase of a small business that sells artisan goods to a market” etc.. Could be business opportunities,
The idea is to get the thesis out soon, so some feedback / guidance could be provided early on.
Outline
The next stage that outlines what kind of analysis that is being conducted, are any non-economic factors that will be included
Complete Draft Report
The third stage. Feedback will be provided
Final report and Supporting presentation
The last stage
Assignment 1
Assignment is currently being graded, for any questions about grading, contact TA.
Assignment 2
Assignment 2 will be released tonight or tomorrow
Survey
- In class resources, there are textbook problems and solutions
- mixed review in supplementary materials (intent is to provide more perspective in real world)
- 1/3 thinks the videos are too long. Future content will be cut shorter with some contents moved to supplementary materials.
- People requests more examples in videos
Questions
Q: How will the presentation work
no one will actually have to give a presentation. But it needs to be prepared. The presentation needs to have:
- no more tan 15 slides
- some slide notes (such as one would need to use to present)
No actual supervisor is necessary.
Q: Number of assignments and due dates
The number of assignments and key due dates will be updated on the syllabus
Q: Developed thesis example
Because staging for the project is different this term. Past student examples have work that doesn’t have a thesis.
Nonetheless, the instructor will write up some sample thesis. They are said to be not complicated.
“Trying to take an engineering question/decision, and framing it in an economic matter.”
Q: Would comparing two different investments be acceptable?
It could be a potential, such as comparing two different real estates. Contact instructor for more guidance and discussion.
Q: what happened with lesson 6?
It did exist, but it was taken out. Renumbering later lessons take too much work.
Q: More lesson modules this week?
Soon^TM^
Q: Do the lesson #’s in the syllabus accurately reflect the lesson # in the modules? E.g. On the syllabus, cash flow analysis is under 9,10 but is lesson 7 in the modules
Names in the syllabus are more general compared to the lesson names - they are not guaranteed to line up.
Q: Clarify sunk cost (with example)
Sunk cost is any money that we spent up to date to do something that cannot be recovered.
An example would be a university degree, we already spent money in lectures, tuitions, books, etc. This is a sunk cost because if we quit school, we cannot get what we spent back.
The money spent before (sunk) is irrelevant to future decisions.
Q: Difficult part of the course?
Risk analysis.
We need to take concepts from early part of the course and trying to assess and quantify equivalent risks and ambiguities.
It’s nothing crazy, but involves analysis in multi-dimensions.
Cash flow analysis (including taxes) has terms that are similar sounding. It is essential to keep the definitions straight.
Q: How do the midterms work?
The questions are under works, it could either be a take home exam, or a window of time.
It will cover all materials including “rate of return analysis” including “incremental analysis” and “other analysis”.
The format will be half short answer and half long answer.
Q: Have midterm due on the weekend for people who have workdays?
Under consideration
Q: Where do we hand in the thesis?
Canvas