User talk:Aggedit

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Happy editing! TSventon (talk) 12:49, 3 May 2020 (UTC)

Thank you! I’ll start reading! Aggedit (talk) 08:27, 4 May 2020 (UTC)

Oxford colleges
Hi, welcome to Wikipedia. I am curious why you reversed your edits to Christ Church, Oxford and St John's College, Oxford? They made me realise that Christ Church's endowments have overtaken St John's and correct the Oxford Colleges article. TSventon (talk) 12:55, 3 May 2020 (UTC)

Hi, thanks again. I had also realised that Christ Church’s endowments have surpassed St John’s. All college pages say something to the extent of ‘the xth richest/wealthiest college, with an endowment of y’, suggesting that the endowment was the measure of richness/wealth. However, I am not sure if this should instead be measured in college ‘assets’, as opposed to endowments, and am not familiar enough with the convention. If you were, that would be great! Aggedit (talk) 08:35, 4 May 2020 (UTC)
 * The endowment figure is a better measure than the total assets figure. To quote the Oxford Colleges article the assets figure "does not reflect all the assets held by the colleges as their accounts do not include the cost or value of many of their main sites or heritage assets such as works of art or libraries. "
 * If you want an editor to see a post on a talk page you can "ping" them as I (unnecessarily) did here. It only works if you sign your ppst with four tildes. TSventon (talk) 09:21, 4 May 2020 (UTC)

I’d read that limitation of the assets figure, and it makes good sense. However, I don’t see why that makes endowment a better measure of wealth, as I don’t know if it accounts for that limitation either, and didn’t think it did given that under [Oxford Colleges], every college has Assets > Endowment, such that endowment would appear to capture even less than assets. Aggedit (talk) 10:22, 4 May 2020 (UTC)


 * In practice the endowment figure is the one that is used: see the graphic in the Guardian article as an example. If you compare total assets then you include "tangible assets" such as the college's buildings, which the endowment figure excludes. As an example the "Balance Sheet" of Somerville College, Oxford has tangible assets of £158m but that of Christ Church, Oxford has tangible assets of only £17m . This is because Somerville has more new buildings, whose cost appears in the accounts, while most of Christ Church's buildings are over 50 years old so their cost doesn't appear in the accounts. On paper Somerville is richer in tangible assets, but not in reality. TSventon (talk) 11:31, 4 May 2020 (UTC)