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Stories from recent issues you may have missed
1. Financial Institutions Caused This Crisis Says Wells Fargo's Kovacevich
2. Does Consumer Happiness = Time or Money Spent?
3. Today's Market Behavior Shouldn't Be a Surprise Says Joseph Stiglitz
4. Google's Schmidt: 2009 is a Good Year to Be a New Graduate
5. U.S. Dependence on Oil in 2008: Facts, Figures and Context
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- Stanford Business magazine
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- Executive Program for Women Leaders, May 18-22
- Managing Teams for Innovation and Success, May 31-June 5
- The Stanford Executive Program, June 21-August 1
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April 2009
Highlights
- Central Clearing House Doesn’t Reduce CDS Risk
- Lazear Traces the Causes of Today’s Market Upheval
- No One Listened to the Derivative Prophet
- Are Wall Street Careers Just the Luck of the Draw?
- Have a Plan But Don't Close Doors
- Google Goes to Carnegie Hall
- How to Make an Airplane Fly
- Small Islands, Big Economic Lessons
- Were the Elgin Marbles Stolen or Collected?
- The Debate Over Brain Boosters
- Socially Responsible Supply Chains
- Readers' Favorites
Economic Crisis
Central Clearing House Doesn't Reduce CDS Risk
The global plan to create clearing houses to fix the mess created by the misuse of credit default swaps is seriously flawed, says Darrell Duffie, Stanford Business finance professor.
Lazear Traces the Causes of Today's Market Upheaval
The world's developing nations have moved from being net borrowers to net lenders, economist Ed Lazear told the SIEPR Economic Summit. With nations like China now making loans to the United States, many expected market behaviors have been modified he said, pointing to factors affecting the current market upheaval. Video
No One Listened to the Derivative Prophet
As head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Brooksley Born warned a decade ago that lack of oversight in the derivatives market could lead to economic disaster. Why didn't anyone listen? (From Stanford Magazine)
Career Issues
Are Wall Street Careers Just the Luck of the Draw?
The proportion of graduating MBAs hired into lucrative investment banking positions shrinks or expands depending on how well the stock market is performing, yet this bit of happenstance can have a dramatic effect on lifetime earnings, says Business School professor Paul Oyer.
Have a Plan But Don't Close Doors
Gates Foundation CEO Jeff Raikes has taken a circuitous path to lead one of the world’s largest philanthropic organizations. He started out on the farm then fell in love with software development. As his father advised, he’s flexible.
Online
Google Goes to Carnegie Hall
MBA student Tim Lee describes his bright idea that enabled Google and YouTube to create a virtual symphony. The orchestra that was eventually assembled for a Carnegie Hall concert included people like the marimba player from Japan and the violinist from Bermuda. (From Stanford Business magazine)
How to Make an Airplane Fly
A Stanford University website invites you to explore How Everyday Things Are Made, exploring careers from machining to making candy and giving an inside look at why airplanes fly or how cotton can be woven into cloth.
World Economic Behavior
Small Islands, Big Economic Lessons
Barbados and Jamaica are living proof that government protectionist policies hurt the economy in the long run, says Peter Henry, Business School economist. Once sporting nearly identical economies, today Barbados outstrips Jamaica's GDP by more than $5,000 per capita.
Were the Elgin Marbles Stolen or Collected?
Are museums protecting artifacts by acquiring them or supporting an illegal market in antiquities? Within the genteel field of archaeology the debate is heating up and Stanford faculty are on both sides.
Human Behavior
The Debate Over Brain Boosters
Stanford Law School Professor Henry Greely stirred controversy with a journal article supporting the use--with safeguards--of prescription drugs to improve brain functions. He welcomes the debate arguing that "we're just not prepared as a society yet for how we should deal with good, safe, cognitively enhancing drugs that will almost certainly be available in the next 10 to 20 years."
Socially Responsible Supply Chains
World of Good, Nau Inc., and the San Francisco Department of the Environment are all dedicated to promoting social and environmental well-being. Leaders of the organizations describe how they have integrated their commitment to greenness and social responsibility in the way they manage the supply chain during a panel as part of the Socially and Environmentally Responsible Supply Chains conference held at the Business School this spring.