Jason Liew

Without accountant,

the best scientific reseach papers,

the greatest construction blueprints,

are just some best-selling fiction novels.

Politicians: History will remember us.

Actuarist: I know the future.

Doctor: I save thousands of lives with a surgery knife.

Economist:

I save millions of jobs with a pen,

and make sure someone is producing that surgery knife.

Lawyer : 

By carefully establishing a beyond reasonable doubt, 

I can send you into jail for a lifetime.

I can make you disappear.

Financier:

One reckless error of mine

is all it takes to send your lifetime-hard-earned business empire into bankruptcy. 

It is too kind to let you disappear, 

I’ll make you insolvent. 

Priest :

I speak the language of god,

making naive people find the purpose of their lives.

I save your life.

Marketer :

Branding is the universal religion,

causing rational people to lose their mind.

I don’t save life,

but I give you the will to live. 

And I guarantee

when you see the price tags

you will say: “Oh, my God!”

Commerce degree is nothing?

Think again.

I’m not teaching you how to lie.

However, if you did screw up your relationships and being stuck in a love triangle. Game Theory might help.

Supposingly, “A” treats you really good, her trust and faith in you makes you feel really guilty about your affairs with B.

And now, everyday you are being tortured by your self-righteous and moral values. You are in a dillema whether to confess to “A” about your relationship with “B”.

Assuming ”A” is a reasonably rational and orservant person that has felt something wrong about Player in the long run. And, “A” is in a dillema of asking or ignoring what  she has been suspecting in you.

Let’s contruct the game table.

Explanation:

The payoff is the amount of lover that the particular person possesses after the decision making.

• If Victim chooses “Ask”, and Player chooses “Confess”
  Assuming victim to be a rational person, she will decide to dump her bf. Therefore, victim is left with 0 lover. After being dumped by victim, Player is left with 1 lover (the B) instead of 2 (A & B).

Therefore, the payoff is ( 0, 1 ).

• If Victim chooses “Ignore”, and Player chooses “Confess”
  Victim chooses to ignore the suspicious behaviour of Player, but Player decided to confess due to guiltiness. Victim has a 50-50 probability of dumping Player, hence the expected outcome for Victim’s lover amount is 0.5 statistically.

         P (x=breakup) = 0.5 x 0 lover
                               =0

         P ( x=not breakup )= 0.5 x 1 lover

                                     = 0.5

         ExP(x) = expected outcome

                   = 0 + 0.5

                   = 0.5

Bringing the amount of 0.5 to Player who has another gf (the B), his total amount of lover is 1.5 mathemathically.

The payoff is (0.5 , 1.5)

• If Victim chooses “ask”, and Player chooses “not confess”
  Victim will also has a 50-50 probability of dumping Player due to her suspicion. Victim might lose faith or feel that Player has changed, he is no longer the Player she fell in love in the past. However, there is an equal share of chance that Victim might choose to believe Player still.

Therefore, the outcome is similiar to the previous case of {Ignore, Confess}
yielding a payoff of ( 0.5 , 1.5 ).

• If Victim chooses “Ignore” , and Player chooses “Not Confess”
  Obviously, this is the best outcome. There isn’t any confrontation. Victim will have 1 bf, which is Player. While Player will have 2 gf in total.

The payoff is (1 , 2)

Analysis:

It is not hard to figure out that, Player has a strict dominant strategy in this simultaneous game.

• When Victim chooses “Ask”, Player gets a higher return by choosing “Not Confess” (1.5 > 1)
• When Victim chooses “Ignore”, Player also gets a higher return by choosing “Not confess” (2 > 1.5)

In conclusion, when things fall apart and love fades away, no matter what Victim chooses, Player will choose “Not Confess” in this decision making, provided that Player is a rational and payoff-oriented decision maker.

Today, Game Theory has added another reason or excuse for “Why people lie in relationships”. Recalling the first class of microeconomics I had in Melbourne University, recalling the Ten Principles of Economics in Mankiw textbook, perhaps we just have to admit that, in every affair, every betrayal, every confrontation, every decision making, every relationship failure, there is nothing personal, it is just Economics.

Economics is a study about the scarcity of resources;
while Loveconomics is a brain child of Jason Liew,
a concept developed by a Melbourne University commerce student
on his 8-hours flight back home from Melbourne.

Loveconomics
examines the endless pursuit for happiness,
the unlimited wants for freedom, 
and the insatiable desire for love,
in a realm which genuine relationship is always experiencing shortage,
in a tradeoff which opportunity cost is often irrational and irreversible, 
and nevertheless,
in a world which government intervention or Price Mechanism 
can hardly remedy the market failure.

If you haven’t watch the Sony Bravia’s 70,000Litre-paint-explosion advertisement in Glasgow, you can watch that through my previous post, Sony Bravia Ads in Glasgow.

For those that have seen the awesome Sony Bravia Ads, the following video is the making of Sony Bravia aforementioned ads in Glasgow. What is behind the scene is just as cool as what is in the scene. From the video, you can understand what it takes to make a legendary TV advertisement.

What I say?

Sony : Like. No. Other.

For Related Posts : Sony Bravia Ads in Glasgow 

Tags: Sony, Bravia, 70000, liter, paint, explosion, advertisement, TV, electronics, making, Glasgow, behind, scene

” Already popular in the hottest clubs and restaurants from New York to Milan, this soft, elegant 3-ply tissue is a great way to accent your bathroom for parties and will certainly get your guests talking!

 

Renova Black Toilet Paper has been dermatologically and gynecologically tested. It is a biodegradable, non-toxic, soothing tissue and does not bleed any color when wet. Made of 100% biodegradable, virgin pulp that is chlorine-free and entirely recyclable. A fun, stylish gift for the hostess that has everything! Made in Portugal. “

Feel like getting one of those for Christmas?
Three rolls come with a nice canister, sold at $ 15 in wishingfish.com .  

Tags: Renova, Black, Toilet, Paper, Luxury, Gift, Wishing, Fish, Cool

Michael Backman is back.

Started with “While Malaysia fiddles, its opportunities are running dry”, he is now  coming back with another interesting and controversial post criticizing Rafidah Aziz, Malaysia’s Minister for Trade and Industry.

Some highlights of Michael Backman’s new article, “Malaysia bites back and industriously trades the insults” :

“The minister, Rafidah Aziz, declared somewhat imperiously that she didn’t care what I said because I am a foreigner and I probably don’t know much about Malaysia anyway.”

“Rafidah added to her remarks about my column that no Malaysian should say such things……. But then the idea that Malaysians cannot comment publicly about how their country is run but a non-Malaysian can, is disgraceful.“

“Perhaps Rafidah needs to be reminded who pays her salary.”

“…recent UN figures show that from 2004 to 2005, foreign investment in Malaysia fell by 14 per cent, when the world economy was enjoying one of its longest periods of growth. One might wonder what the Trade and Industry Minister has actually been doing.”

“…. an assistant minister told the Malaysian Parliament that Malaysia’s first astronaut to be sent into space next year aboard a Russian space mission will be tasked to play batu Seremban, a traditional Malay children’s game played with pebbles, will do some batik painting and will make teh tarik, a type of Malaysian milky tea, all to see how these things can be done without gravity.”

Hey, the idea of making Teh Tarik without gravity is cool. It is definitely going to be an eye opener, and for sure, an expensive one.

For the complete article of “Malaysia bites back and industriously trades the insults”, it is here.

For related posts: What Michael Backman Talked About Malaysia  ,  Why We Fight

Tags: Malaysia, bites, back, and, industriously, trades,  the, insults, Michael+Backman, Columnist, Malaysia, Race, Wealth+Inequality, Share, KLSE, Malay, Chinese, Rafidah, Aziz, Minister, Trade, Industry, Astronaut, Space, Russian

Rising petrol price? Rising toll fees? Increasing transportation expenditure? Hopefully, this can make you feel better.

For the same quality of petrol, you have been paying more and more,  at least now, you have a better service quality to  be compensated with.

For related posts : UMNO Motorshow

Tags: Petrol, Station, Red+Carpet, Oil, Fuel, Car, Transportation, Toll, Fee, Rise, Cool, Service

“If You Can Make It There, You Can Make It Everywhere”, an inspirational ads from one of the German car manufacturers owning a Formula-1 team, Renault.

I have a suggestion for our Petronas sponsored F1 team, the newly formed BMW Sauber in this year. (previously known as Sauber Petronas)

If they were to advertise also, try this:
“If you can make it there, you have been spending taxpayers’ money all the way.”

Taking 90 Hectares of precious natural land, spending RM286 million, to build this Sepang F1 Circuit. Yes, Malaysia Boleh. We are the FIRST country in the South East Asia to have a Formula 1 track, second in Asia, with Japan being the first. While our education sector doesn’t even has enough fund, to train sufficient amount of required engineers and experts. Building wonders by paying and using foreign technology and expertise, what’s the damn thing that we are so proud of? FIRST. FIRST. FIRST. So what? The sad fact is that, regardless of the outsourcing, we were never once the FIRST in the race, and we are never going to be. *

(* : Sauber Petronas has been bought over by BMW in this year. Petronas is currently just a premium partner of BMW Sauber.)

For related posts : What Michael Backman Talked about Malaysia

Tags: Renault, Advertisement, Formula+1, racing, cars, Petronas, Sauber, sponsor, Malaysia, Germany, BMW, Sepang, Circuit

Have a look at the Jaguar’s logo…  (BMW) 

Not all the people are equal, neither car brands. (Mercedes Benz)

I can take all. Nobody will be left behind. (Volkswagen)

I can take all. Nothing will be left behind. (Hyundai)

It’s all about respect. (Ford)

“Working” hard for a better next generation? (KIA)

For related posts: $38 Million Volkswagen Cold & Climate Center,

Branding or Bureaucracy

Tags: Car, Advertisement, BMW, Mercedes, Benz, Jaguar, Ford, KIA, Hyundai, Volkswagen

The original article by Disillusioned Rebel was good. However, I found out that what Mamakk comment about that post, was even better. Short and precise. It has just struck a cord with me, saying that “Damn it, that is so true!”

“IMHO, by creating more barriers to education, business, etc for the Chinese, it only strengthened them. Now, it’s the norm for all middle-class Chinese families to send their children overseas for further education. And when they do come back, with a prestigious degree, a wider outlook of the world and a deep resolve to continue to better themselves, to expect no sympathy and handouts, can you really blame them for doing better and them feeling proud about their achievements?

Even worse, when they get back home after a day’s hard work and switch on the TV: they see politicians asking them to go back to China if they don’t like it here, they see politicians threatening to use the keris, they see double-standards in the execution of the law, they see megaprojects involving billions of ringgit being wasted away, they see, they see, they see.”

Have a read about it, it’s definitely worth your time. The mamakk link is here. 

For related posts : The Malaysian Chinese Dilemma, UMNO General Assembly

Tags: Politics, Economy, Wealth, Inequality, Racism, Chinese, Malays, Malaysia