Posts by: Dick Taffe

Memorial Day thoughts

Parades and political speeches this Memorial Day weekend remind us of the price of war.  Unmentioned is the hidden cost: the socioeconomic inequality in who makes the ultimate sacrifice in defense of the nation – more of the dead are from poorer communities.  Political science Professor Douglas Kriner, co-author of “The Casualty Gap: The Causes and […]

BofA, Citi hid debt like Lehman

Bank of America and Citigroup brushed off reports that they incorrectly hid from investors billions in debt — similar to what Lehman Brothers did — to obscure its true level of risk.  Company documents filed with regulators show the two Wall Street banks classified some short-term repurchase agreements (“repos”) as sales, which they should have […]

Geithner urges global financial reform

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is visiting with his European counterparts to say that the U.S. and Europe broadly agree on the need to reform the financial system but that global cooperation is needed.  Law Professor Cornelius Hurley, director of the Morin Center for Banking and Financial Law and a former counsel to the Federal Reserve […]

Apple online-music antitrust probe

The Justice Department reportedly is in the early stages of an antitrust investigation against Apple Inc., the largest seller of music online, looking into allegations that it used its dominant market position to try to keep music labels from granting exclusive access to content to Amazon.com.  Law Professor Keith Hylton, an authority on antitrust law, says […]

BP tries “top kill” to stop Gulf leak

Though it’s never been tried before in such deep waters, BP started its “top kill” operation in an effort to plug the mile-deep leak that has been spewing oil into the Gulf of Mexico in U.S. waters for five weeks since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded.  Professor Cutler Cleveland, director of the BU Center for Energy […]

North v. South Korea tensions mount

With military and political tensions increasing daily on the Korean Peninsula, Secretary of State Clinton says America will stand by South Korea as it seeks UN action to redress North Korea’s apparent sinking of South Korean warship.  International relations Professor Thomas Berger, a specialist on government and political culture in East Asia, says today’s situation […]

SEC moves to avoid “flash crash”

In an effort to avoid a repeat of the May 6th “flash crash” when computerized trading markets tumbled out of control, the Securities and Exchange Commission has voted unanimously to require audit trails to cover all trading orders from start to finish.  Visiting Law Professor Elizabeth Nowicki, a former SEC and Wall Street attorney, says the […]

Regulators too close to oil industry

The Interior Department’s inspector general issued a report showing an all-to-cozy relationship between the department’s Minerals Management Service and the oil industry that it was supposed to be regulating.  Law Professor Tamar Frankel, author of “Trust and Honesty: America’s Business Culture at a Crossroad” and an authority on legal ethics, says the problem of regulators […]

Secret U.S. military ops in MidEast

The New York Times reports that Gen. David Patraeus, the top American commander in the Middle East, has ordered a broad expansion of clandestine military activity across the region in an effort to disrupt militant groups or counter threats.  International Relations Professor Joseph Wippl, director of the BU Center for International Relations and a 30-year […]

Dell to roll out iPad rival

With Apple having sold its one millionth iPad last month, Dell says it will roll out its 5-inch-screen rival tablet — The Streak — next month in England in in the U.S. later in the summer.  It will run on Google’s open-source Android operating system.  School of Management Professor N. Venkat Venkatraman, chairman of the […]