New Math

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Yet another education related item (Thanks to Cuff for the prompt)

New Math

Teaching math in 1950:
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit?

Teaching math in 1960:
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit?

Teaching math in 1970.
A logger exchanges a set “L” of lumber for a set “M” of money. The cardinality of set “M” is 100. Each element is worth one dollar. Make 100 dots representing the elements of the set “M”. The set “C” - the cost of production - contains 20 fewer points than set “M”. Represent the set “C” as a subset of set “M” and answer the following question: What is the cardinality of the set “P” of profits?

Teaching math in 1980:
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80, and his profit is $20. Your assignment: Underline the number 20.

Teaching math in 1990:
By cutting down a beautiful pristine forest of trees, a logger makes $20. What do you think of this way of making a living? Suggested topic for class discussion after answering the question: How did the forest’s birds and other animals feel as the logger raped their habitat? There are no wrong answers.

Teaching math in 1995:
By laying off 402 of its loggers, a company improves its stock price from $80 to $100. How much capital gains per share does the company’s CEO make by exercising his stock options at $80? Assume capital gains are no longer taxed, because this encourages speculative investment.

Teaching math in 2000:
A company outsources all if its loggers. It achieves significant saving in benefits, and when demand for their product declines, the logging work force is easily down-sized. The average logger employed by the company earned $50,000, had three weeks paid vacation, belonged to a generous company underwritten pension plan, and participated in a comprehensive medical and insurance program. The contract loggers charge $50 an hour. Was outsourcing a good decision?

Teaching math in 2005:
A multi-national forest products company exports its wood-finishing jobs to its Indonesian subsidiary and lays off half its North American loggers (the higher-paid half). It clear-cuts 95% of its forest holdings, leaving the rest as Spotted Owl habitat, then lays off the balance of its loggers. It tells the workers the Spotted Owl is responsible for the lack of availability of commercially viable trees, and lobbies the Canadian Parliament and US Congress for an exemption from the Endangered Species Act. The governments instead exempt the company from all federal environmental regulations. What is the return on investment of the lobbying costs?