December 16, 2009 at 5:14 pm
The Russian government wants to use price controls and a crackdown on bootlegged vodka to cut that nation’s “colossal drinking” by 72 percent over the next decade. International relations and sociology Professor Walter Connor, a Russian politics expert who once ran the State Department’s Foreign Service Institute, says such a cultural turn-around will be tough. […]
December 16, 2009 at 3:54 pm
On the one hand Citigroup is repaying Uncle Sam that TARP bailout money, which is good for taxpayers. On the other hand, they’re getting a multi-billion dollar tax break in the process. Economics Professor Laurence Kotlikoff, a former senior economist in the White House Council of Economic Advisors, doesn’t like the tax breaks built into […]
December 16, 2009 at 3:18 pm
After Microsoft agreed to market its rival’s browsers alongside its own Internet Explorer, the European Commission settled its last antitrust issues with the software giant. Law Professor Keith Hylton says the deal makes sense to both Microsoft and the European regulators, but he sees a problem looming. “This settlement may encourage even more aggressive theories […]
December 15, 2009 at 5:08 pm
The George Clooney-led serio-comedy “Up in the Air” led the Golden Globe nominations, but will that translate into Academy Award noms later this season? Hard to tell, says Film & TV Department Chairman Paul Schneider, though he expects considerable overlap. “‘Invictus’ did not get a picture nomination but Clint Eastwood did – so that is […]
December 14, 2009 at 5:11 pm
Some of Tiger Woods’ endorsers are sticking with him, some are bailing out, and others are waiting to see if the firestorm hits them. Advertising Professor Chris Cakebread, who teaches sports marketing, says much will depend on how much the advertisers feel “trust” is significant in their pitching Tiger. “Tiger was a trustworthy spokesperson for […]
December 14, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Poor nations ended their boycott of the global environment talks in Copenhagen on being assured rich countries aren’t softening their commitments to cutting greenhouse gases. Professor Adil Najam, director of the Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, is with a delegation of BU students at the Copenhagen talks. Najam, an author of […]
December 11, 2009 at 4:25 pm
The Securities and Exchange Commission is widening its probe of the Bank of American take-over Merrill Lynch to go beyond failing to disclose bonuses paid to Merrill employees to now include failure to disclose ML’s mounting losses. Law Professor Elizabeth Nowicki, a former SEC and Wall Street attorney, says it’s about time. The SEC’s expanding probe of Bank […]
December 11, 2009 at 4:01 pm
After years of staying out of each other’s way and thriving, Google and Apple now fight over the same start-up acquisitions and develop competing products. School of Management Professor N. Venkat Venkatraman, chair of the Information Systems Department, says it embodies the shift under way in how companies compete in the era of convergence shaped by information […]
December 11, 2009 at 3:15 pm
England has been joined by France in slapping a supertax on bank bonuses in an effort to push other countries, including the U.S., do so likewise. Law Professor Cornelius Hurley, director of the Morin Center for Banking and Financial Law and former counsel to the Fed Board of Governors, says it’s disgaceful the United States didn’t […]
December 9, 2009 at 1:54 pm
The TV network world is buzzing about former Bill Clinton staffer George Stephanopoulos accepting the offer to co-host ABC’s “Good Morning America,” succeeding Diane Sawyer, who heads to the anchor desk of the network’s “World News Tonight.” Journalism Professor Bob Zelnick, a long-time ABC News correspondent, says he sees Stephanopoulos as smart, hard-working, and adaptable to the […]
