Category: Professor Voices

G-20 nations pledge to deal with debt

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 […]

Gun rights apply to local laws

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 […]

Financial regulatory bill agreed on

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 […]

Americans and oil

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 […]

Deadline for financial regulatory reform

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 […]

SCOTUS on the “honest services” law

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 […]

Afghanistan’s mineral future

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 […]

Top Israeli aid badmouth’s peace talks

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 […]

Nebraska town targets illegals

With about 57 percent of residents voting for it, the town of Fremont, Neb., has passed an ordinance aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration by banning hiring or renting property to illegals.  The town now faces a long legal fight similar to that embroiling the state of Arizona after it recently enacted a law […]

The general and the president

General Stanley McChrystal met privately with President Obama over contemptuous remarks the general and his staff made about top administration officials in a magazine article.  Shortly thereafter, Obama relieved the McChrystal of his command as head of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.  International relations Professor Andrew Bacevich, a retired Army officer and authority on U.S. military […]