Is this the economy waiting for THIS ?

LL are recruiting a new VP Finance.

http://lindenlab.com/job_VP_Finance.html

Maybe this is why the economy seems to be running free. Waiting for the new man to take a grip and give some direction, rather than pre-empt his decisions for him.



The whole ad is worth reading. Gives some interesting insights on what comes next.

Yes, fascinating job description.

One thing I love about SL - it's such a rich well of complexity.

So, there's going to be a Greenspan Linden?

I wonder if this replaces tbone?

Hire Jamie or Tom from GOM.

I'm not entirely sure this is good news.

Sounds like the beginning of the end (of Second Life) to me.
Notice that line about "monetising" (sic) everything (in sight).

This line scares me

monetize = spooky

No, it's not spooky. LL understands perfectly if their content creators don't make money they won't make money.

And if they're not making money, trust me, neither will you because they will be out of business.

This is what worries me. I have no idea what they intend to do here, but it could potentialy destroy everything I worked hard to build. I can't see anything they could do in this area that would be good, for me or regular SL citizens. Can anyone??

Yes. I view it as a positive step forward toward a credible economic program that will have to be tested and proven before any RL entity would consider SL a viable platform within which to conduct business.

Heh.

Want to put money on that *not* happening?

J

I'm glad someone is thinking like this. I certainly hope that they don't intend to destroy what many of us have built, and that they think long and hard about the consequences of such actions, but unfortunately, I don't have a good feeling about it.

J

Perhaps they are simply looking into ways to provide oversight to these newly emerging large-scale financial services fileds. I know that my stock exchange would have no problem stipulating to reasonable oversight by Linden Lab. Would your bank?

The phrase "a banking and money supply system" reads more literally to me. I'm speculating that what they're saying is they'd like to create a SYSTEM in/under which banking/financial services would continue to function. I seriously doubt that LL intends to get into the banking business themselves with so many support issues as it is.

I do agree though, that this is all rather vague and should be addressed by a Linden. It could be that you have a better read on this than me, and it could also be that we're both reading it wrong and it means something entirely different. I really hate how they sometimes leave people totally in the dark to speculate on what vague discoveries like these really mean. There should be a policy on this.

Qualify and/or quantify "reasonable oversight".

J

Well I really have no idea how to answer this because we're still talking vague mentions of something that may happen in ways we have no clue about. First of all, let's get something concrete as far as if oversight rather than destruction, or rather than something ENTIRELY different, actually is even the plan. Then, if it is even the case, let's sit down and listen to exactly how they intend to provide it. Let's hopefully be able to also offer some of our own input into that brainstorming process. Only AFTER we know what we're talking about, let's label it as reasonable or otherwise and decide whether to stipulate or terminate.

How??

What is reasonable oversight? What could they possible do in addition to what is already done (holding RL information on all avatars) that would fall in the category of reasonable? I have no intention of allowing Linden Lab to tell me how to run my business.




There is already a system under which banking/financial services function. It's called the free-market. I will have none but it. If they want to add features to the client that allow people to better interact with each other, great, but this smells too much like interventionism to me.



You are most likely right about that.

Hmm. Ok. I guess that I will speculate a little bit as this has been brought up twice. Please keep in mind that all this represents is me speculating randomly about a random Linden blurb in a job post which was brought up on the forum. For the purposes of my random speculation, I will assume this random blurb to have something to do with a system of oversight that covers both money supply and banking/financial services regulation. However, LL has offered no explaination as to what is behind this random blurb yet, and it may turn out to be something else entirely.

As far as money supply, the main thing I can think of is metering the money supply going into and coming out of the economy. This is already happening. Perhaps in this regard they are looking to formalize the system and the numbers, and perhaps keep a tighter grip on things.

As far as banking/financial services oversight, some simpler things that come to mind would be rough and general auditing to ensure that funds and investments actually exist. There is some wild and unfounded paranoia/conspiricy theory out there fearing that we are simply paying out interest/dividends while we wait to hit some pre-defined L$ amount and run make a run for the border.

The stock exchange would actually love this type of oversight just to put these kinds of insane theories to rest once and for all. We would likely make compliance a listing requirement as well. I could think of other things that could be wrapped up in such a "system" that wouldn't be so easy to deal with. That said, the stock exchange would almost certainly comply with any level of LL oversight that we find reasonable. This would be especially true if we were allowed to be included in discussions of what is and is not reasonable before the new oversight rules went into effect. This way we could be sure that everything that would be required would also be available.



There is always regulation even in a free market. That said, it doesn't "smell like" anything to me at this point other than a random blurb that was discovered in a job posting and drug onto the forums. Have you spoken with LL yet and if so, have they offered any kind of clarification? I haven't, but I do hope that some sort of clarification is coming before the speculation in this thread gets too out of hand.




Let us hope. I would perfer resident run banks to "The First Bank of Linden" hands down, without question. That said, I wouldn't mind a Linden "central bank" dealing with issues like currency supply and providing some level of oversight.

Shaun's first sentence is a pretty good assessment of most threads on the economy because so little is available for analysis. The VP of Finance job description, not just the portion quoted here, points to an established economic structure. Whether one likes all the details as they fall out, at least they'd be falling out. Sounds more promising than a seat of the pants analysis based on various interpretations of Philip's and Robin's sound bytes.

Agree, it will be nice to have more details if that is in fact a part of the plan.

Fo' shizzle! Got tha Monetizzle in the hizzle ma nizzle!

The thing is, it's the guy's job to do something. And the job description says he should do something in a field where I see nothing good that can be done by Linden Lab.



I absolutely support this. Inflation (well, exchange rate collapse would be a more accurate term here) is starting to become a real problem. I think though, that maybe this runaway inflation might be the result of the god-hack, not an inherent flaw in the system. From what I understand people could and did create as much money as they wanted out of thin air with the hack and I can't see how LL could have controled all of it.



The vast majority of the bank's investments are not in-world. What then? Auditing should be a user-based service, not a Linden based requirement. There is absolutely nothing keeping citizens from establishing accounting firms that check investments out.



So? I don't care if there is paranoia about us financing terrorism! I provide a service, I clearly state the terms, the risks are clear. You either accept them or you don't. But even so, I honestly doubt that I could get away unharmed from honest bankrupcy, much less actual fraud.



Nonsense. Do not be deceived by a false sense of security. No oversight can put these kings of theories to rest once and for all. Ask the SEC.



I have to say, we have plans to create our own "securities" exchange and I have a very different philosophy on these matters. I will never get into any kind of discussion about how to regulate SL's economy simply because I do not believe it should be regulated. I do not believe it is LL's job to have any oversight. If they truly think of this as a wide platform, a sort of new internet instead of a simple game or narrow tool, they cannot think in this manner. If they do, I better look for another platform.



There is self-regulation in a free-market, not imposed regulation.



What is wrong with speculation? Seriously? Speculating is good. It keeps our brains active. Our minds aware of possibilities.



I would. They don't need a Central Bank to cut stipends and create new, smarter sinks. Like say, a small 1% fee on land sales. Cutting the cost of ratings, as well as the financial benefits of higher ratings (so it has meaning again, but can't be milked for cash).

I read the job posting. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with the in-world economy. That's a corporate position. (Although it is encouraging to see LL actually acting like a business).

Buster

"Well-rounded and technically strong...
Very hands-on with an exceptional ability to prioritize, and adept at setting targets and meeting goals in a timely and measurable fashion;
Committed and passionate ...
Smart, ambitious, focused, ...
Polished and aggressive business leader who is personally flexible and has an ability to bond with the CEO while having the courage of conviction to “push back” as needed
Flexible problem-solver and enabler ...
Possessing excellent communication, organizational, and interpersonal and negotiation skills ...
Entrepreneurial, comfortable ...
Skilled in talent development (recruiting and leading) and having excellent coaching skills
Honest and having a deep sense of integrity accompanied by appropriate rigor...
Having the ability to quickly assimilate ..."

Above is quoted from the job description. It sounds like they're looking for everyone's dream boss/co-worker/manager/future husband/wife...lol. Wonder if his/her Linden bear will have dollars signs on it?