Professor Elam

Monday January 28 2013

It is 8:33 AM and I have just concluded reading scanning underlining the Monday WSJ. How many TAMUSA business students did that I wonder?  here are a few things I learned or  caught up on. 

• The US lead from behind strategy continues to embolden terrorists, they studied and had knowledge of the plant from unskilled workers, a bit better intel and they could have blown up the plant. 
• A few years back San Antonio was named one of the fattest cities in America. This makes SA ground zero for diabetes research. More American kids face the risk of Type 2 Diabetes. Observation, where are the plans to use our gym at Brooks to encourage physical fitness/
• Another Armstrong Charity cuts ties to Lance, too bad, Athletes for Hope was organized to convince athletes to work with existing charities rather than start their own. 
• Attitudes harden in Washington with Obama's picks for his Cabinet and posts. The WSJ notes that Treasury Designate Lew came from Citicorp, one of the worst performing banks that Obama says was the problem. 
• L Gordon Crovitz notes that Milton Freidman warned Silicon Valley of getting involved with the government, now the government complains of excessive Silicon Valley lobbying. 
• Will South America ever deliver the living standards of their commodity rich continent to its citizens? Mary O Grady writes an excellent column on South and Central America every monday Today she presents the idea of Direct Distribution Mechanism which would move oil revenue to citizens rather than through the government. This past year to win re election Chavez boosted government spending to 50% of GDP, ouch. 
• Engineers of Victory a book review describes how lesser known figures conquered the logistics of WW II. 
• Taxes matter as the article Mickelson and the Sports Start Tax Migration shows. A significant number of sports starts now reside outside California, I mentioned this last week. 
• France lacks the air and navy support to get its troops to Mali. Observation, the opposition in Mali probably reads the WSJ. 
• Heard on the Street on page C 8 is particularly interesting. It describes how various grades of oil are priced depending on where produced and the logistic difficulty of getting it to market. We are discussing futures and options and their pricing in class, anyone interested?

Every day a student tells me he or she wants to be a CPA. I have designed an intermediate accounting program to get you there, but you have to embrace it, dive into it, and make it your own.