Just skimming the list after coming back from vacation... Dan Klein has written a nice book titled "Reputation" which I frequently recommend. Looks at some of these examples in detail from a self- regulatory, free-market perspective.
-Declan On Tue, Dec 25, 2001 at 05:51:01PM -0800, Tim May wrote: > I didn't read far enough into BU's piece to see him asking such a silly > question, or I would have also offered S&P and D&B as examples. > "Foobarcorp's rating has been lowered from AAA to AA." Like it or not, > they are in the business of reputation rating. > > So is a Notary Public. So is a restaurant reviewer in a newspaper. So > are Siskel and Ebert, er, Ebert and That New Guy. > > So are the kosher meat dudes who stamp "Kosher" on food approved for > consumption by Jews. > > So are the "PC Labs" and other reviewers of new PC hardware. > > We are swimming in a sea of such reputation services, just as we are > swimming in what is basically an anarchic ocean. > > --Tim May > "Ben Franklin warned us that those who would trade liberty for a little > bit of temporary security deserve neither. This is the path we are now > racing down, with American flags fluttering."-- Tim May, on events > following 9/11/2001
