Models
April 17, 2009
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Models
We’ve all seen them. Perhaps your attention has even lingered. Models are more than just something pleasing to look at though. They can be inspirations to us. We can look at a model and decide we want to look the same. We want to be just as healthy looking, or just as powerful. Sometimes the goal is unrealistic; as it is unlikely a six foot Woman can replicate a petite model. Spike Lee probably cannot replicate Will Smith.
The world of modeling extends beyond personal appearance. It can be extended into CAPS blogs. I would have modeled this blog after some that have pictures, but each time I try I see nothing but code. Blogs with pictures are a nice model. The first paragraph of this one has suffered considerably due to my inability to embed. Trust me, it did.
Investing styles can also be modeled. Here on CAPS we have two generous players, with two entirely different investing styles. TMFEldrehad and GoodVibe4Ever. They generously explain their investing models and you can see their results. Because their results are good you might consider copying their styles. If their results were awful, you would probably not choose to copy them.
Modeling can also be used in the world of business. Consider the diner. It is a restaurant model that serves a variety of food, relatively inexpensively, reasonably quickly and usually offers a pleasant experience without attempting to go upscale and compete with restaurants that offer long sit-down times and promise extraordinary meals, albeit at a higher price. The diner is a successful model as evidenced by its presence all across America. There does not need to be just one successful model. A Diner is not the only successful restaurant model. The fast food model is also very successful. Years ago Ray Kroc developed the McDonalds model into a chain of successful restaurants. The model was copied by others, Burger King, Wendy’s, Pizza Hut all come to mind. The model is to have very few selections served quickly and cheaply, with the same experience, whichever store you visit. It a tightly controlled model that requires buying the meat from a central supplier, strict pay scales to maintain costs, and consistent appearances throughout stores. All innovation comes from the central headquarters and is tried at stores selected by headquarters. Product innovation at the store level is discouraged. It is a very successful model for a restaurant chain. There are also models of restaurants that are difficult to copy. Some are successful because the chef is extraordinary, but unwilling to share his recipes. Others are successful because they overlook a beautiful view that cannot travel to other locations. If you came to me and asked me to invest in your restaurant, I would want to know what model you choose to copy. I would want to hear what you know about your model, and how it applies to what you want to create. If you wished to present an entirely new model I would be very excited, and very skeptical. If you chose to copy a big expensive restaurant, I would want to know how long your chef is contracted for or how nice the view is. If you choose to copy the small fast food chain restaurant, I would want to know your food tastes better or that you can buy your chopped meat cheaper. I would check to see that you understand your model so that I could expect you to have the ability to repeat it.
Modeling can also be applied to Government. For example, someone may suggest that “small” government is the best way to have a successful country. It sounds so wonderful at first, less taxes, less Gov’t, my neighbor could bury motor oil in his yard and poison my garden. When I think of “small” government, I think of Somalia, Zimbabwe, and Toga. And then I think, I don’t want to live there. People are being shot, their land and property stolen, and life expectancies are below fifty. This is not a good result.
Fortunately on CAPS we have two small Government experts, Whereaminow and DaretothREdux. Each in their more or less sophisticated fashion has blogged endlessly in favor of small Government, so I asked them for an example of the “small” government they would like to copy.
Dare offered the USA of the late 1800’s as his choice. I cannot go there. So I thought perhaps I could reproduce the conditions that existed at that time, now. There were vast expanses of fertile unclaimed land. Homesteaders could just squat on a property, go to work and claim it. Every drop of the Colorado River was unclaimed, unlike today when more drops than it has, have an owner. Fur trappers spread into the Rockies recovering furs faster than the animals could breed. As I thought about it, I was not convinced that the conditions of that long ago era and the policies of that time, would work today. Brazil is similar today, but even their unspoiled land is quickly disappearing. Perhaps there is still time to go there.
Whereaminow, offered Qatar as his example of a successful small Government. As I began to learn about Qatar, I learned of a thriving economy in a small Country the size of Massachusetts. I learned of modern new hospitals, and teaching facilities. I learned of Government paid nursing education, something our “small” Government people don’t want Government involved in. I learned of a hospital system paid for by Government funds. But Government should not fund hospitals say our “small” government advocates. I learned of a Government funded healthcare system, not the private insurer system recommended for here. I learned of Government provided education and colleges. I learned of a benevolent Emir, a King of sorts, who provided for his people. I learn of a land where immigrants can be enslaved into forced labor, and I hope laws to prevent it are enforced. I learned of a land that had nationalized its oil industry thirty years ago, as Venezuela is doing today. I learned that the laissez faire Qatar economy is propped up by a nationalistic Government feeding it dollars through spending. I learned that the “small” Qatar Government spending is 57% of their economy. I learned the USA Government is 20% of ours, 34% including the States.
Using Government expenditures as a percentage of GDP revealed Whereaminow’s example of a small Government to be one of the largest most nationalistic Governments in the world and it seems like a nice place to be a citizen, if not an immigrant. It is not “small” government.
So before I invest in your small government idea, would you show me a working model?
CAPS Player Goodvibe4ever ends some of his posts with one of the most beautiful wishes I have ever heard, and I would like to use it here.
I hope this adds value to your thinking.
Devoish
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