It may come as a surprise to some of you that the origin of our profession can be traced back directly to the Holy Bible. It's rarely taught that the principles of valuation can be found in the Torah. Often, economic historians point to Aristotle or to much later philosophers, such as Hume or even Smith.
"According to the number of years after the Jubilee (Jubilee is a year in a 50 year cycle in which all private property is returned to the original, familial owners) you shall buy from your neighbor, and according to the number of years of crops he shall sell to you. According to the multitude of years you shall increase its price, and according to the fewer number of years you shall diminish its price; for he sells to you according to the number of the years of the crops. Therefore, you shall not oppress one another, but you shall fear your God; for I am the LORD your God." Leviticus 25:15-17
"If he dedicates his field from the Year of Jubilee, according to your valuation it shall stand. But if he dedicates his field after the Jubilee, then the priest shall reckon to him the money due according to the years that remain till the Year of Jubilee, and it shall be deducted from your valuation." Leviticus 27:17-19
And so in short, the life of economic assets is determined by the proximity of time from the date of the acquisition to the year of Jubilee, when all property is returned. The value of the asset, therefore is a function of (i) the crop yield (i.e., productivity) and (ii) the life of the asset as defined.
And, in a nutshell, God provides the foundation of valuation theory thousands of years before it ever became a profession and/or a science. This may also explain how/why Jewish culture has always exceeded in this field (not a stereotype; just a historical observation).
Nice, but did you look into more ancient civilizations to see if they predated the Torah in having a concept of valuation?
Good read: (PS: Will Goetzmann wrote a book called "The Origins of Value" :P) http://viking.som.yale.edu/will/finciv/chapter1.htm
Which text predates the Torah and specifically highlights principles of valuation?
The link you shared, as far as I can tell, talks about early financial systems and record keeping. While interesting, that's not really the topic. I did only skim through it, however.
Let me know if theres a specific passage in the link that's relevant here.
The origin of valuation was likely when the first hunter and gatherer traded to another. Each made a decision of the value of his goods versus the other. Once an agreement was made, supply and demand was established in a barter system.
The essential part of this equation is communication. Terms of the agreement and established valuation and trade must be understood and agreed upon by all parties.
Therefore, the origin of valuation mostly likely contained a point and nod to seal the deal.
I like the creativity! However, the last sentence sounds a little strange to me, as some people might infer that it is a stereotype. Perhaps, it is a stereotype with a basis . Historically, Jews may have had an edge in finance but possibly due to restrictions placed on them regarding employment. As far as I know, Jews were limited to working in certain industries, such as finance.
THOU SHALL SELL YOUR COMPANY AT THIS 9,4X VALUATION OR I SWEAR, ON GOD ALMIGHTY, HE SHALL SMITE YOU WITH THE POWER OF A THOUSAND SUNS!!!!!!!!!
These are the findings of our investigation for the individual named "Esuric".
"Esuric" is an MSF graduate of WUSTL who was rejected at many higher ranked schools. In his lack of control and outrage, he posted derogatory comments about many of the schools that rejected him on various business school sites and forums. He has been found on this forum praising his own school feeding his ego and talking down about other schools. He's even been featured on Poets and Quants "10 Comments That Made us LOL in 2015" bashing MIT Sloan. He was rejected to MIT's MFin program and that is likely what triggered him to create these comments to make himself feel better. Unfortunately even after so many years he still shows many narcissistic and insecure traits as can be seen in his post history. The admissions committees at the schools that rejected him were able to see these negative traits through his application and did what was correct. We know his true identity and are protecting it on this forum. He has been unresponsive to our phone calls and emails and have resorted to try to notify him here.
We were reported to this individual by a member of this forum and our school has documented the findings. We are in the process of notifying other business schools about his behavior and will bar him from engaging in any interaction with their programs and alumni. This is totally unacceptable behavior that betrays the trust upon which intellectual inquiry at business schools depend.
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