Dick Taffe | BU Now

Posts by: Dick Taffe

Alleged Russian espionage ring busted

June 29, 2010 at 3:40 pm

The FBI arrested 11 people for allegedly spying for the Russians while living secret lives in American communities – from Washington, D.C., to Seattle – sent here years ago to infiltrate U.S. society and steal its secrets. It’s unclear what the alleged spies actually found. Two BU international relations professors, Arthur Hulnick and Joseph Wippl, […]

Posted in Professor Voices | Tagged Arthur Hulnick, Boston University College of Arts and Sciences, BU CAS, CIA, CIA veterans, espionage, FBI, International Relations, Joseph Wippl, Russian spies, Seattle, spies, Washington DC | Comments (0)

Wall Street reform bill threatened

June 29, 2010 at 11:00 am

The death of U.S. Senator Robert Byrd (r.) is threatening to delay passage of the sweeping Wall Street regulatory reform legislation until mid-July after it had been on track for House and Senate votes this week. Law Professor Cornelius Hurley, a former counsel to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and now director of the Morin […]

Posted in Professor Voices | Tagged Barney Frank, Boston University School of Law, BU LAW, Christopher Dodd, Congress, Cornelius Hurley, Federal Reserve, Federal Reserve Board of Governors, financial regulatory reform, House of Representatives, Morin Center for Banking and Financial Law, Robert Byrd, Senate, Senator Byrd, To Big To Fail, US Senate, Wall Street | Comments (0)

G-20 nations pledge to deal with debt

June 28, 2010 at 5:43 pm

The Group of 20 industrialized nations wrapped up their meeting in Toronto promising to have their government deficits by 2013 and “stabilize” debt loads by 2016, signaling to domestic political audiences and international markets that they’re serious about reducing stimulus spending. But economics Professor Laurence Kotlikoff, author of “Jimmy Stewart is Dead” about the future […]

Posted in Professor Voices | Tagged 2016, Boston University College of Arts and Sciences, BU CAS, economic deficit, economic downturn, Economics, G-20, Group of 20, health care benefits, Jimmy Stewart is Dead, Laurence Kotlikoff, long-term debt, pensions, stabilize debt, Toronto | Comments (0)

Gun rights apply to local laws

June 28, 2010 at 5:31 pm

The Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment right to bear arms is a fundamental right that states cannot abridge. The 5-4 ruling will require a lower court to overturn laws in Chicago and its suburb of Oak Park., Ill., that limited handgun possession. Political science Professor Graham Wilson, author of “Only in America? American […]

Posted in Professor Voices | Tagged Boston University College of Arts and Sciences, BU CAS, Chicago, conservative majority, Graham Wilson, handgun ban, handgun possession, IL, Oak Park, Only in America? American Politics in Comparative Perspective, Political Science, Second Amendment, Supreme Court, US Supreme Court | Comments (0)

Financial regulatory bill agreed on

June 25, 2010 at 3:45 pm

House and Senate conferees finally worked out a compromise bill aimed at reshaping financial regulations to avoid another Crash of ’08, with a final vote set for next week and President Obama expected to sign it by July 4th. As expected: many winners and losers. One controversial provision gives the SEC authority to require stockbrokers to […]

Posted in Professor Voices | Tagged Boston University School of Law, broker-dealers, BU LAW, compromise bill, Congress, Crash of 2008, EC, economic downturn, fiduciary responsibility, financial regulatory reform, House of Representatives, July 4th, law school, President Obama, security law, Senate, Tamar Frankel, Trust and Honesty: America's Business Culture at a Crossroad, US Congress, US Senate | Comments (0)

Americans and oil

June 24, 2010 at 4:00 pm

A new poll reports reports that Americans are “deeply concerned” about energy but “unwilling to pay higher gasoline prices to help develop new fuel sources.” Professor Cutler Cleveland, director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies, says this attitude defies our experience since 1970 as we’ve gone to war over oil, experienced major oil […]

Posted in Professor Voices | Tagged Americans, BP, Center for Energy and Environmental Studies, Cutler Cleveland, Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Deepwater Water Horizon oil spill, Energy, energy crisis, energy independence, gas prices, oil spill, The Energy Watch | Comments (0)

Deadline for financial regulatory reform

June 24, 2010 at 2:56 pm

Congress is down to its self-imposed deadline to come up with a financial regulatory reform bill, leaving some of the most controversial provisions — like how to deal with the trading of derivatives — to the final hours. Law Professor Cornelius Hurley, director of the Morin Center for Banking and Financial Law and a former […]

Posted in Professor Voices | Tagged bank reform, Barney Frank, BU LAW, BU School of Law, Christopher Dodd, Congress, Cornelius Hurley, derivatives trading, Fed Board of Governors, financial regulatory reform, Morin Center for Banking and Financial Law, US Congress | Comments (0)

SCOTUS on the “honest services” law

June 24, 2010 at 2:41 pm

The Supreme Court restricted a favorite tool for pursuing corrupt politicians and self-dealing corporate chiefs, ruling that the law that makes it a crime to deprive the public or one’s employer of the “intangible right of honest services” can only be used where they could prove defendants accepted bribes or kickbacks. It means, for instance, that […]

Posted in Professor Voices | Tagged Boston University School of Law, BU LAW, BU Law School, CEO Jeff Skilling, Conrad Black, Elizabeth Nowicki, Enron, honest services law, intangible right of honest services, Jeffrey Skilling, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, SEC, Supreme Court, Wall Street | Comments (0)

Afghanistan’s mineral future

June 24, 2010 at 11:39 am

Word that war-torn Afghanistan has at least $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits already has that country’s officials scrambling to start the process of opening up the nation’s reserves to international investors. Anthropology Professor Thomas Barfield, who also is president of the American Institute of Afghanistan Studies, says cashing in on the potential will take […]

Posted in Professor Voices | Tagged Afghanistan, Afghanistan minerals, Afghanistan war, American Institute of Afghanistan Studies, Anthropology, Boston University, BU CAS, BU Today, China, College of Arts and Sciences, lithium production, mineral deposits, Taliban, Thomas Barfield | Comments (0)

Top Israeli aid badmouth’s peace talks

June 23, 2010 at 4:46 pm

Uzi Arad (r.), Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s national security adviser, says the outlook is bleak for U.S.-mediated Middle East peace talks. International relations and anthropology Professor Augustus Richard Norton, author of “Hezbollah: A Short History,” says the former Mossad agent’s comments offer a window into the strategic calculations of the Israeli government, calculations which continue […]

Posted in Professor Voices | Tagged Anthropology, Augustus Richard Norton, Binyamin Netanyahu, Hezbollah: A Short History, International Relations, Israel, Middle East peace talks, Palestinian state, Prime Minister Netanyahu, US policy, Uzi Arad | Comments (0)