Category: Professor Voices

From Joan Salge Blake:

Tip No. 4: Stuff yourself before you go If the dinner party invitation says cocktails start at 7 pm, this probably means that dinner won’t be served until Dave Letterman is delivering his monologue. As the evening wears on, even the wallpaper will start to look tasty. In this ravenous state you are likely to […]

From Joan Salge Blake:

Tip No. 3: Cut back on the hors d’oeuvres Did you know that one ounce of brie cheese melted on a hunk of crispy French breadpacks over 100 calories and 9 grams of fat? Couple that with a few other nibbles and you’ll have to beep your tailor before dinner is served. Making a meal […]

U.S. talked of replacing Karzai

A top U.S. diplomat reportedly discussed enlisting the White House in replacing Afghan President Karzai after Karzai’s flawed re-election victory this fall.  But it went no where and the diplomat was fired.  Journalism Professor Nick Mills, author of “Karzai: The Failing American Intervention and the Struggle for Afghanistan,” thinks the diplomat, Peter Galbraith, had the […]

Wellesley lawyer new BofA CEO

Bank of American has tapped Wellesley attorney Brian Moynihan as its new CEO, promoting him up from head of the bank’s consumer and small-business operations.  Former Federal Reserve Bank examiner Mark T. Williams, who teaches finance in the BU School of Management, says BofA needs a risk-management veteran, not a lawyer, at its helm. “In […]

From Joan Salge Blake:

Tip No. 2: Tame the party animal Let’s get realistic about this; How many parties do you expect to attend in the next few weeks, including New Year’s Eve? Two or three a week? Do you realize that if you drink two glasses of wine at each of those parties, by the end of the […]

What’s next for Tiger?

Corporate sponsors are taking the Tiger Woods’ episode as a chance to rethink the value they may be getting for celebrity endorsers.  Meantime, public-relations Professor Peter Morrissey, an expert in reputation management, says Tiger has to wait for this to bottom out and avoid the tendancy to act like a victim. “History will record if […]

Booze crackdown in Russia

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. […]

Citigroup repayment costs taxpayers

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 […]

EU ends Microsoft antitrust case

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 […]

From Joan Salge Blake:

Tip No. 1: Eat Off Grandma’s China Talk about portion distortion. According to research, the surface area of a typical dinner plate has increased by 36% since 1960. Let’s face it: The bigger the plate, the more food you are likely to heap on and eat. Tip: Use Grandma’s dinner plates at your supper and […]