Re: [noise] The economics of super-stars - partial cite

[Rich Graves <llurch@networking.stanford.edu>]

On Sat, 13 Jan 1996, Simon Spero wrote:

> This came up at the bay area cyherpunks meeting - I haven't got the full 
> citation, but the orignal paper was by Sherwin Rosen of the University of 
> Chicago; it was published in 1981, under the title "The Economics of 
> Superstars" - I think it might be in:
> 
>         TITLE: Studies in labor markets / edited by Sherwin Rosen.
>         PUBLICATION: Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1981.
>         DESCRIPTION: ix, 395 p. ; 24 cm.
>              SERIES: Conference report / Universities--National Bureau 
> 		    Committee  for Economic Research ; no. 31

For anotehr view suggesting that Rosen is himself dazzled by superstars,
see The Other Path, by Hernando de Soto, ISBN 0-06-091640-0 (paperback)
and 0-06-016020-9 (hard). 

This is the 260-page executive summary of a study of the "informal
economy" in the major Peruvian cities. I think the expanded El otro
sendero with statistical appendices is only available in Spanish. 

Title refers to Sendero Luminoso, a particularly bizarre Maoist cult that 
has been brutally repressed by Fujimori in recent years. De Soto argues 
that the masses are a lot smarter than most economists and governments 
think, that most humans are entrepreneurs, and that the informal economy 
serves people a lot better than either Fordist capitalism or a "communist"
revolution.

As if anyone has time to read such a thing.

-rich