October 21, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Professor Cornelius Hurley, director of the Graduate Program in Banking and Financial Law and its related Morin Center for Banking and Financial Law at the Boston University School of Law, offers commentary on how the bailout is now pushing banking mergers.
“Treasury is now concerned that its huge equity infusion will be used by banks to buy other banks rather than to make loans. This is a real concern and it stems from Treasury’s misguided decision to be a purely passive investor in banks rather than taking board seats at the banks it invests in as has been done by Britain and the Netherlands.”
Contact Cornelius Hurley, 617-353-5427, ckhurley@bu.edu
October 21, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Law professor Tamar Frankel, an authority on securities law, corporate governance, and legal ethics, comments on the Feds/NY joining in the CDS trading probe:
"Historically, Americans were deeply suspicious of government power. It is not by chance that American enforcement units have been so many and competed with each other. How come they have been joining forces lately without a murmer of protest from the public? How come their joining ranks is viewed now as beneficially efficient?
"One explanation is that antitrust laws have been relaxed and mergers have given rise to mamouth private-sector corporations and financial institutions. Their rising power is threatening to overcome governmental power. Therefore, government units unite.
"A second reason may be that different government departments lead to different laws, and multitude of laws and regulations are expensive. We are slowly moving towards unification and standardization of forms and laws.
"Third, the cost of splintered government units and duplicate information sources has become too high. The way things look today, government and enforcement is likely to acquire more clout."
Contact Tamar Frankel, 617-353-3773, tfrankel@bu.edu
October 20, 2008 at 7:20 pm
In response to last week's signed letter by economists, sent to congressional leaders opposing the government bailout plan, a group of academic economists lead by Boston University's Laurence Kotlikoff, have signed a letter in support of the plan before Congress dealing with the financial crisis.
Below is that letter, addressed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate, along with the names and affiliations of those in favor of the plan.
ECONOMISTS PEN LETTER TO CONGRESS IN SUPPORT OF BAILOUT PLAN
October 20, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Joan Salge Blake, Registered Dietician and healthy eating expert from Boston University, offers tips for what to do with the leftover Halloween candy:
The WORST thing that you can do, which many people do, is to bring the leftovers to work! The logic is that you "get it out of the house". However, it is around you and your colleagues all day long.
Here are some tips:
• Buy 20% less than you did last year. Keep a roll of quarters on hand. Should you run out of candy, give the neighborhood ghosts and globins money. Have you ever seen a child turn down moola?
• If you have leftover candy, freeze it. Save it for another upcoming holiday, Super Bowl Sunday, Valentine's Day or Easter/Passover. Kids would love to get candy corn in their Easter Basket.
Joan Salge Blake's bio can be found here.
October 20, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Of the 190,000 military women who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001, 20 percent of them will likely develop post-traumatic stress disorder, (PTSD) a debilitating, life-threatening anxiety disorder. With women returning from combat deployments in greater numbers than ever before in U.S. history, the Department of Veteran Affairs is scrambling to meet a need whose scope is still unknown.
Boston University professors are among the lead investigators of current research being conducted at the VA's National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder:
- Dr. Terence Keane, professor of psychiatry and director of the Behavioral Sciences Division of the National Center for PTSD, developed many of today's most widely used PTSD assessment tools.
- Dr. Patricia Resick, a professor of psychiatry and psychology and director of the Women's Health Services Division of the National Center for PTSD, is researching why women develop PTSD at more than twice the rate of men. She also developed cognitive processing therapy (CPT), a dramatically successful treatment for rape victims and battered women.
- Amy Street, an assistant professor in psychiatry, leads a VA support team devoted to military sexual trauma (MST). 20% of women report experiencing MST, compared with 1% of men.
- Suzanne Pineles, an assistant professor or psychiatry and clinical coordinator of the VA's Women's Stress Disorder Treatment Team, is exploring the possibility that women may have a biological susceptibility to PTSD.
Read the full article in the Fall 2008 issue of Bostonia.
October 17, 2008 at 4:59 pm
Law Professor Tamar Frankel, an authority on securities law, corporate governance, and legal ethics, comments on grand juries looking into actions of Lehman Brothers.
"Do not blame Lehman Brothers. The examinations of its actions are unnecessary. Many large financial institutions adopted the same practices and developed the so-called market that we now have.
"Rationally, a market can convert a long-term obligation into a short-term one (auction-based securities); a market can determine the magnitude of risks and offer protection by institutions that do not have the assets to cover the risk they cover; a market can ‘correct' prices. Market price can be established by three or four rating agencies; a market depends on trusted sales person who deliver sales talk.
"Of course we do not mean the market. We mean the financial intermediaries -- those that create and encourage and control and manage the market in other people's money. And a market can resolve any problems that may arise. And this kind of market administers its ‘corrections.' It may well be that we had no financial market for quite some time.
"It made good sense for Lehman to avoid investor ‘run.' The FDIC does it for the banks, but investment bankers did not have an FDIC. They have to calm investors and try to find a solution. Had we had a regular market, the actors' demise or financial difficulties would not have threatened the system. The rule of immediate disclosure should have applied to them.
"But this is no regular market, and Lehman is no regular intermediary but a huge one among very few. So if Lehman attempted to protect the system by postponing disclosure in the hope of getting help, it tried to serve the system. The fact that it did not succeed is irrelevant. It was the FDIC of itself.
"What is the purpose of the Lehman investigation? Prosecution is not justified, except perhaps to demand the accounting for profits by management. Discovery of the detailed truth is not helpful. In the future, other gimmicks will appear that we cannot predict today and devastate our so-called market.
"Unless we use and revive the antitrust law and forget for just a few year about ‘efficiencies' and ‘synergies' and other fine concepts that justify concentration of power which is killing us now, we will achieve little even if Lehman is prosecuted. The prosecutors should apologize for refraining to enforce the law that regulates people (not institutions, but those who control institutions) that hold other people's money and play with it as if it is their own, while stashing their own safely."
Contact Tamar Frankel, 617-353-3773, tfrankel@bu.edu
October 17, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Professor Lou Ureneck, Journalism Department chairman in the College of Communication and former deputy editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer, comments on the Tribune Company's decision to drop AP news service.
"If the Tribune follows through and actually drops the AP, it will hurt the Tribune more than the AP, but it is not a good development for either. This may turn out to be a way for the Tribune to keep its options open and affirm its position as it tries to negotiate a lower rate."
October 16, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Tobe Berkovitz, Associate Dean of the College of Communication, comments on "Joe the Plumber" becoming a political symbol.
"So what's with the politicians' fascination with plumbers at election time? We have Joe the Plumber taking center stage as the symbol of the economic meltdown's impact on small business owners. "
"There's nothing new under the sun, and that includes plumbers in political campaigns. In the 2005 French referendum on the EU Constitution, the desirability of hiring a Polish plumber became a core message in the debate over the benefits of an even or unified EU.
"Joe the Plumber, Polish Plumber -- I guess we've moved on from Hockey Moms."
October 16, 2008 at 1:32 pm
The following Boston University professors are available to comment on the various aspects of the financial crisis:
School of Management Professor Mark Williams, an expert on risk management and former Federal Reserve Bank examiner who teaches in the school's Finance Department.
School of Management Professor James Post, an expert on corporate governance and business ethics. He teaches a course called "Corporate Governance, Accountability, and Ethics." He is the author of "Business and Society: Corporate Strategy, Public Policy, Ethics" (McGraw-Hill).
School of Management Professor Zvi Bodie, a widely recognized expert on pension finance, social security reform.
School of Management Professor Scott Stewart, an investment management expert and former Fidelity funds manager.
School of Law Professor Cornelius Hurley, director of the school's Morin Center for Banking and Financial Law. He is former chief counsel to the Fed Board of Governors.
School of Law Professor Tamar Frankel, an authority on securities law, corporate governance, and legal ethics. She is the author of "Trust and Honesty: America's Business Culture at a Crossroad" (Oxford U. Press) and "Securitization" (2nd ed. 2006).
School of Law Professor Charles Whitehead, a securities law expert. He spent 20 years as an in-house counsel in international securities and banking.
October 16, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Tobe Berkovitz, Associate Dean of the College of Communication, comments on the polls showing John McCain's attack ads backfiring.
"You can cue up the Who's classic ‘Won't get fooled again,' but the press shouldn't buy in to polls that show voter backlash against negative ads. Time after time, voter focus groups demonstrate that negative/attack ads are hated by voters. And time after time election results demonstrate negative ads work.
"The problem for McCain is he is attacking on the wrong issue (William Ayers). In an election where terrorism isn't an issue, neither is Ayers.
"Obama is also getting protection against the attack ads by the MSM that is providing the counter-punch bemoaning McCain's advertising. Obama can punch back at McCain while decrying the tome of his opponents commercials. Lucky Obama. He's inoculated by the clumsy campaign of his opponent and the air cover support provided by the MSM."
