tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29433853322125298.post7513875020935350221..comments2009-11-18T21:58:13.026-06:00Adam Keiperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06148591564156720438noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29433853322125298.post-28597099358125079582009-11-18T21:58:13.250-06:002009-11-18T21:58:13.250-06:00The proposed answers to most of them, not just the manhole one, are pretty stupid. The Seattle window-washing one (#2) just seems like intellectual laziness -- $10 per window? What about trying to work out the transaction costs of negotiation with every single window-owner, to see what a competitive bid with city government for a localized window washing utility monopoly would be? Or alternatively, what you&#39;d have to charge to recoup the costs of buying out all the existing window washing firms&#39; contracts? And why assume that charging on a per-window basis is a rational pricing scheme, since it&#39;s way more expensive to wash the windows on the Space Needle than to do a one-story house?<br /><br />But hey, at least the basketball one was a legit rational problem, and I&#39;m happy to say that I solved it.<br /><br />And I had fun devising an ontological reason why it is impossible to ever fit any golf balls onto a school bus.Ethan C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08658234155418733181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29433853322125298.post-91126583598604935752009-11-13T17:58:51.629-06:002009-11-13T17:58:51.629-06:00<a href="http://xkcd.com/182/" rel="nofollow">On a related note.</a>Ari N. Schulmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04609072658255092787noreply@blogger.com