Clark Center Forum

by Reid Hastie As commentators, politicians and academics struggle to make sense of the recent financial crisis and its ramifications, many of their accounts seek to identify a root cause or the “beginning of the story.” Theories abound… Read article> 

 

by Ray Ball Mark-to-market accounting has long been viewed in academia as the gold standard for preparing financial statements. The rule makers, the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board, are coming to the same view. Yet shifting to those norms has some adverse consequences for investors. Read article> 

This week’s IGM Economic Experts Panel poll statement:

Connecticut should pass its Senate Bill 60, which states that during a “severe weather event emergency, no person within the chain of distribution of consumer goods and services shall sell or offer to sell consumer goods or services for a price that is unconscionably excessive.” 

The themes of inequality and the 1 percent dominate the news. Critics deplore that the share of pretax income accruing to those at the top has increased markedly over the past 30 years and is now greater than it has been since the 1920s. It is suggested, too, that growth in income inequality has been […] 

This week’s IGM Economic Experts Panel poll statement:

The former head of the Transportation Security Administration is correct in arguing that randomizing airport “security procedures encountered by passengers (additional upper-torso pat-downs, a thorough bag search, a swab test of carry-ons, etc.), while not subjecting everyone to the full gamut" would make it "much harder for terrorists to learn how to evade security procedures." 

by the Squam Lake Group News reports suggest that the Securities and Exchange Commission may be backing away from a reform of money-market funds. This would be a mistake. The debate over how to overhaul prime money-market funds has focused on preserving the commercial viability of these instruments while significantly lowering the threat they pose […] 

This week’s IGM Economic Experts Panel poll statement:

Laws that limit the resale of tickets for entertainment and sports events make potential audience members for those events worse off on average. 

by Douglas J. Skinner Much has been made of Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s recent decision to begin paying regular dividends, given the company’s large free cash flow (about $1 billion a week) and cash balance (close to $100 billion). Yet, according to finance theory, stock-market investors should be indifferent to whether they receive their returns as […] 

This week’s IGM Economic Experts Panel poll statement:

Prior to the crisis, the benefits from the funding advantage that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had by virtue of perceived government support mostly went to their shareholders, rather than into substantially lower interest rates on residential mortgages.