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Knowledgebase


December 2008

Highlights

  1. Three faculty Views of the Economic Crisis
    Duffie: Achieving U.S. Financial Stability
    Berk: Incentives and the Financial Crisis
    Van Horne: Financial Restoration for the United States
  2. Amid Dropping Oil Prices, Business Ponders
    the Economics of Energy
  3. Should Charities Ask For Time Before Money
  4. It Really Is The Though That Counts
  5. Voting by Mail May Have Unintended Effects on Elections
  6. Wind, Water and Sun Beat Other Energy Alternatives
  7. Green Tech Must First Make Economic Sense Says Khosla
  8. Mexico's Zambrano Has Set His Name in Cement
Achieving U.S. Financial Stability

Professor Darrell Duffie argues that redesigning the U.S. financial system after the current crisis will focus on creating stability. “Most of us thought we had it, but we did not,” he says.

Incentives and the Financial Crisis

In any financial crisis, it is possible with 20/20 hindsight to identify the specific causes. Rather than outlawing those activities, Professor Jonathan Berk recommends designing legislation that better aligns the incentives of bankers with the public interest.

Financial Restoration for the United States

During the past 200 years, there have been 16 credit crises in the United States, all marked by speculative excesses in the years immediately preceding. As the ultimate safeguard to stem a financial panic, the government should have in place the apparatus that will allow it to curtail such excesses in advance of their triggering a financial panic says Professor James C. VanHorne.

Amid Dropping Oil Prices, Business Ponders
the Economics of Energy

Energy costs are forcing corporations to rethink their strategies. While companies reconfigure operations and products, investors and engineers find alternative energy opportunities.

Marketing

Should Charities Ask For Time Before Money

Asking would-be donors for their time, not their money, is a better way for charities to increase donations says Prof. Jennifer Aaker. Asking donors first to volunteer their time can positively shift their willingness to give both time and money.

It Really IS The Thought That Counts

When it comes to putting out money for gifts, less may well be more. Researchers say that, although most gift givers assume that a more expensive present will be more appreciated, receivers don’t appreciate expensive gifts that much more.

Public Policy

Voting by Mail May Have Unintended Effects on Elections

Absentee ballots have made voting easier and more accessible to millions of Americans, but the process may have unintended effects on election outcomes, says Professor Neil Malhotra.

Environment

Wind, Water and Sun Beat Other Energy Alternatives

The best ways to improve energy security, mitigate global warming and reduce the number of deaths caused by air pollution are to use wind, sun, and water, says Stanford Professor Mark Z. Jacobson. The options getting the most attention, including ethanol, are between 25 to 1,000 times more polluting, he warns.

Green Tech Must First Make Economic Sense Says Khosla

Zero emission buildings and hybrid vehicles have broad appeal, but any climate change solution must first make economic sense to truly be effective, venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, MBA ’80, told a Business School audience.

International View

Mexico's Zambrano Has Set His Name in Cement

Lorenzo Zambrano, MBA '68, has turned Cemex into a global corporation, the world's third-largest cement producer and the largest building materials supplier operating in 50 countries.


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