My impression of Shostakovich used to be largely biased with his chromaticism–the squeakily sharp Symphony No. 1 and the rich underlying emotions embodied in Symphony No. 5, as Apple Music Classical introduced His Symphony No. 5 (1937) and subsequent works express a fury and despair that he could not voice in public, although these works were often leavened with moments of sarcasm, irony, and cheeky allusions to his own private life....

In 1889, when Tchaikovsky was 49 years old and at the height of his fame and powers, he composed his ballet The Sleeping Beauty–based on a romantic fairy tale. An elaborate waltz is performed and Princess Aurora arrives: No.6 Grande valse villageoise (a.k.a. The Garland Waltz) Undeniably, Tchaikovsky wrote the best waltz music. This waltz is just as popular as other Tchaikovsky classics, as well as the ballet suite–people hear it in Disney movie music tracks, Tom and Jerry, restaurants, and even elevators....

Reading notes of Chapter 4 of ECONOMICS OF REGULATION AND ANTITRUST (2018), by Viscusi, Harrington Jr. and Sappinton. The theories of collusive and oligopoly pricing is powered by the mathematical tools of economic analysis and game theory. An oligopoly is an industry with a small number of sellers. The criterion of small is, “whether firms take into account their rivals’ actions when deciding on their own actions”. And we model this economic setting as a game–a list of oligopolies in the market as playes, whose actions includes setting prices or production quantities, and the actions of all players jointly determine the outcome for everyone....

Ariana Grande graced the 2024 Met Gala not merely as a guest but as a spellbinding performer under the grandeur of the Met’s storied arches. Clothed in a sheer green gown by Maison Margiela, designed by John Galliano, Grande radiated an ethereal charm. The gown, a diaphanous masterpiece, clung to her like morning dew, catching the light in a cascade of shimmering greens that seemed to paint her in the colors of a waking forest....

Happy Sunday! Today, I’m stepping away from the antitrust series to explore a lighter topic: deadlines–—the last-minute scrambles that somehow keep our world spinning. Somehow I noticed that people like to procrastinate until the very last minute–sometimes the action seems plausible while some doesn’t. Here’s some observation. Join me as we unpack the economics behind the ticking clock in our daily lives. deadline: a love-hate relationship Ever noticed how our daily tasks are relentlessly deadline-driven?...

Are You Caught in a Social Media Trap? Stephen J. Dubner. Mar 6, 2024, Freakonomics. In this episode, Stephen Dubner interviewed Ben HANDEL and Leonardo BURSZTYN about their new paper: When Product Markets Become Collective Traps: The Case of Social Media. Leonardo Bursztyn, Benjamin R. Handel, Rafael Jimenez & Christopher Roth. 2023. ABSTRACT Individuals might experience negative utility from not consuming a popular product. For example, being inactive on social media can lead to social exclusion or not owning luxury brands can be associated with having a low social status....

Antitrust and Big Tech, and Is Corporate Lobbying A Good or Bad Thing? SEASON 1 –– EPISODE 13 MAY 17, 2018, After Hours. Here’s the gem–in a previous episode of “HBS After Hours,” the conversation delved into the increasingly contentious realm of antitrust, particularly as it pertains to the titans of technology. The hosts, Youngme Moon, Mihir Desai, and Felix Oberholzer-Gee, unpacked the implications of large corporations’ market behaviors and the (possibly waning) effectiveness of antitrust as a regulatory mechanism....

ECONOMICS OF REGULATION AND ANTITRUST by W. Viscusi, Joseph Harrington Jr. and David Sappington Chapter 3 Introduction of Antitrust | Reading Write-Ups Introduction: The Value of Studying Antitrust The essence of economics vibrates with the spirit of competition. While not utterly unconstrained—no, firms can’t simply dynamite their competitors’ facilities—we lean on competition as the quintessential engine driving favorable economic outcomes. But sometimes competition evaporates. Essentially, antitrust laws strive to enhance market functionality by nurturing and regulating competition....

TA Notes | Problem solving session for Advanced Operational Research, taught at SUFE 2024 Spring/Summer semester. Inspiration taken from EE364a I took 2023 Summer at Stanford. There are basically three ways to establish convexity of a function $f$: verify definition (rarely used) if $f$ is twice-differentiable, show $\nabla^2f(x) \succeq 0 $​ NOTE: only recommended for simple enough functions. a function is simple enough iff. it’s ‘manual-computationally tractable’ for you...

The original Chinese version of Nocturnal Narratives: 《选妃》 不敢说博学，但我蛮喜欢读书的：因为晚上做题， 解题目到了兴头上容易失眠，床头就得常放着一两本书，睡前翻两页，也就有困意了。 选书也有技巧。太有趣不行。之前从书店买了套阿西莫夫的小说集，好几本。读到《神们自己》， 以为还是短篇集，每一晚上读几篇，可多可少，困了就睡。结果这本是中长篇，写的还不错，忍不住一口气看完，天就快亮了。 太硬也不行。有一次选了范里安的《微观经济学现代观点》，实在是太抽象。索性躺在床上发呆，又想起来刚刚没解出来的题，更睡不着了。 内容还有讲究。蔡澜的散文和杂文很合适，但他的美食评论是坚决不能睡前看的，写的太好。 最后，也会强迫自己多少读读哲学和心理学的书， 我不喜欢，但经不住朋友喜欢，还乐意借给我。不过这些书最催眠，也就爱屋及乌了。 住在宿舍不比家中舒适。但每天挑书陪睡，像翻牌子。常告诚自己少专宠，要雨露均沾，要节制，不要在新欢旧爱之间觉得力不从心一一要早点睡。