MBA Alumni: Help Needed!

I've been working on some new ideas about how to teach strategy case studies to MBA students.

And I could use your help!

I'm at a point where I really need to road test some of these ideas.  And that's where you come in...  I'm hoping to find 3-5 "volunteers" --- I have a few dollars to pay, but unfortunately nothing close to what your time is worth --- to come to the U for probably 2.5 hours, sometime over the next few weeks.  

My general plan will be to show you some materials, ask you some strategy questions, and see how you respond.  

Normally, I can road test new ideas in the course of teaching classes, but this one...  well, it could be awesome but it could also fail spectacularly, and I'd prefer not to have a class implode on me.

You won't be graded, and this isn't an opportunity to retroactively earn extra credit for courses you took a long time ago.   But, you'll be doing me (and my future students) a big favor!

Send me an e-mail if you're interested:  scott.schaefer@utah.edu.

Thanks!

Debt and Young Adults

It's been quiet over here on Utah Economist recently...  More activity over on the new Roadside MBA blog, so do have a look over there.  

I got a call yesterday from Jennifer Napier-Pearce, who's now covering the personal finance beat at the SL Trib.  (Raise your hand if you still miss her voice on KUER.)  Anyway, there's a Pew study about how debt levels among the young have fallen (mostly) since 2007.  Housing, auto, and credit card debt all down; student loan debt up.  Here's a link to the story, with ample economist commentary. 

Part of the reduction in debt is coming from changes in the mortgage market.  But there are also some interesting things going on in markets for automobiles.  Here's a quote from the Pew Study:

In 2007, 73% of households headed by an adult younger than 25 owned or leased at least one vehicle. By 2011, 66% of these young households had a vehicle. Among households younger than 35, outstanding vehicle debt declined from 2007 to 2010. In 2007, 44% of households younger than 35 had vehicle debt. By 2010, only 32% had vehicle debt. The typical outstanding amounts owed among young households with vehicle debt fell from $13,000 in 2007 to $10,000 in 2010.

Part of this is coming from changing attitudes toward debt, but there are also simply fewer new cars out there.  There was an article in the WSJ on Wednesday about how the low auto-industry production levels between 2009 and 2011 are impacting the used car market:  

The shortage of used cars stems from the deep plunge in new-car sales between 2008 and 2010, and the virtual disappearance of new-car leases during the financial crisis. As a result, three-year-old cars are now hard to find and even older models are holding their value.

These effects will probably continue to ripple through auto-related markets;  how do you think, for example, that the relative lack of 2009-2011 autos will impact revenues for auto repair shops (who probably prefer customers with older rather than newer cars...)?

And Speaking of Crowdfunding.....

Here's an interesting juxtaposition from today's Salt Lake Tribune.  On the front page, we have an article about an alleged Ponzi scheme that lifted $170 million from investors.  On the front of the Money section, we have an article about today's crowdfunding conference at the University of Utah, which unfortunately I'm not able to attend.  (You miss out on so much by having a job...)
Here's a quote in the crowdfunding article by Berkeley Geddes, head of a professional association:

"The crowd has a powerful ability and can say, ‘I know this person’s past and I can vouch for him, or I know his past and I have some concerns,’  Geddes said. "The crowd has a unique ability to help make sure that the entrepreneurs asking for the money" are legitimate.

I presume there were people vouching for alleged Ponzi schemers, too.   Potential crowdfunders should probably worry about the incentives of the people doing the vouching, which raises the question of who's going to vouch for the people doing the vouching.   And then who's going to vouch for the people vouching for the people doing the vouching.  And so on.