Politicians, when things go well, instantly link the White House to the successful implementation of their 'policies.'  In truth the economy and markets are somewhat independent of politics.

The stock market peaked in Oct of 2007 at 14000. We have lost more than half that value in the Dow and many times more than that in other stocks, like CITI now trading for less than $2. I am smelling a re bound in prices.  No doubt poilticians will seize on that as 'evidence' that the markets like the Stimulus package.  But even a 2,000 point Dow rally would do little but relieve an oversold market.

The markets will go where they want, what politicians do in the short run, by stacking up debt for dubious projects to be paid by later generations in the name that we have to do something, is folly. And both parties, led by Bush, Obama and the same crew at Treasury and the FED have done just that.

We recently discussed the possibility that the economic problems in the US might lead to the break up of the US. Students noted a Russian economist has written a book predicting this would happen in 2010.  The link is to a WSJ article by the way.

Now that noted political scientist, Chuck Norris, is hosting a Glenn Beck sponsored protest of some sort from his ranch (every actor and political type with more than one section in Texas claims it is a ranch….).  My point, the idea of widespread income distribution to those that foolishly borrowed with no equity is not selling well to those that did not do that. We have previously noted another set of Tea Party Protests set for April 15. We suspect that that like George Bush, the high initial ratings for the Administraion are in danger. Yesterday a newly elected  female Democrat from the Bay Area oposed Nancy Peolosi's latest spending plans, hmmm……Indeed less than one hundred days into this new administration Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are already running into Senate resistance to passing their legislation. And they have 58 Dem votes.

The one person for whom there is no compassion is the taxpayer.

 

Professor Tom Sowell deconstructs the nonsense going on about housing prices.

Prof Elam Observation

I am weary of hearing politicians bemoan people losing their houses. If those people owned their houses they would not be losing them. Buying  a house with nothing down and a thiry year mortgage is not ownership. It is pure and simple a lottery ticket betting on increasing home prices using leverage hoping  one can flip the house and make something for no investment at all. No wonder people are walking away. Meanwhile, as Sowell says, all those politicians in California made housing more expenisve by passing restrictions on building. Now those houses are much much cheaper, gee isn't taha the solution. Indeed, lots of things are cheaper now.  Everywhere I look retailers are having two for one sales, even on homes and cars. The economic collapse will do just what was needed, this year more cars will be removed from the roads than added, a first in many years. Now that will shrink the carbon footprint more than any Al Gore scheme in Washington DC.

The students who read this blog are betting on their future by foregoing consumption now to invest in their business education.  Making a short term sacrifice for a longer term goal is what saving and investing is all about.

Your campus Texas A & M San Antonio will sponsor the Southwest Teaching and Learning Conference here March 27-28. This will bring professors from Schools in the south Texas area as well as I understand from San Angelo, possibly El Paso, and the Houston area. I have submitted three presentations, two of which I would like your input and presence on Friday, March 27, times forthcoming.

The first is a research Proposal, What are the Best Practices for Teaching Non Traditional Students?  That of course would be you!  Our average age i 32. We hear that non traditional students want more interaction with teachers and smaller class sizes, they want personal relationships. Certainly the dynamic is deeper than that but I am making a general observation. I am proposing a research survey among non traditional students as to their likes and dislikes. I think it would be constructive to hear from some of you during the presentation in that regard.  This presentation is at 4:00 PM Friday.

The second is under the title of Innovative Curriculum Practices. In that regard I submitted my Weblog, Professorelam.typepad.com.  I have had many posts from all of you and the stats show that as many as 35 student a day are on line reading the blog. Okay, that sets the stage for your feedback. I am able to show That presentation is at 9:30 Friday morning.

How to construct a blog, how t he blog reflects student life

How to measure activity on the blog

What I do to create blog articles, but

I am not able to show frankly exactly how this improves your education. For that we need to hear from you. I of course do have the comments you have posted but I think we need your feedback on perhaps the following

The purpose of the blog is to link classroom study to real world business.

Does it achieve that result?

Has it imporved the learning environment (honestly I am not sure how to prove that).

Is there more take away content than if it did not exist

Does it improve the 24/7 learning environment, (this is an avowed purpose).

What should be done to show or assess its worth, questions in class, on exams, let students write one  paper a semester on a blog article, what?

Yes I am looking for students to participate with me in both presentations. No I am not looking for simple fawning comments or if you will someone blowing smoke so to speak about it, the audience wold not appreciate that. I am looking for constructive comments on what you think and most important in both areas, where do we go from here to improve your learning environment.

My experience is that non traditional students are very much into improving their learning environment that is why you are here after all.

So would you please submit your ideas via e mail on WEB CT, that way they will be confidential and I can find them much easier than on my regular e mail. I look forward to your input.

Merck MRK acqauired Schering Plough SGP over the weekend for $41 B in cash, wow. The wow is

the size of the deal

and the fact that acquisitions and mergers hardly ever happen at market bottoms, rather they are a market top phenomenon. Why?  Again, Socionomics tells us that positive social mood generates inclusive emotions, we want to be together, we want to believe, in the face of contrary evidence, that a Chrysler Mercedes merger would work. That merger took place in a bull market, in the bear market years later Mercedes paid Cerebus to take it off their hands.

Anyway, it makes sense to buy a quality company when it  is on sale, SGP is well off its weekly highs and MRK bought, this is helping buoy the markets this morning, looks to me like those that shorted bank stocks are covering as all even the XLF is up nicely.

NO not the ones selling merchandise for one dollar, the ones whose stocks are trading for less than a dollar, the list may surprise you in retail.

PIer One PIR .15

Lazy Boy LZB .60

Martha Stewart MSO 1.73, a high flyer in this crowd!

Tuesday Morning TUES .57

World Market CPWM .70

Such prices suggest bankruptcy or going concern problems!

Clearly a lot of retailers are simply not going to survive this environment.

The Dallas Museum of Art no doubt thought it hit the long ball and would make lots of money off the traveling King Tut exhibit. Indeed it had to bid, on a fixed cost basis no doubt, to get teh Exhibit. Well guess what, seems attendance is down. Another example of lack of demand but the debt against projected demand did not decrease. So the King is on sale, so to speak….the below from the Museum web site.

 

Special Matinee Price $15!

For a limited time, take advantage of a special matinee price of $15! Experience the majesty of the King Tut exhibition in the afternoon and save up to $12!

All adult, senior, student, and youth tickets (normally priced at $27.50, $24.50, and $16.50 respectively) are now priced at $15 from noon till close on weekdays (Monday–Thursday).*

Click here to purchase tickets.

Limit 8 tickets. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Offer expires March 12, 2009.

*Except holidays (see above)

I have mewntioned the new social science of socionomics in helping us understand how popular culture shapes events. Researchers are now discovering that seeming positive incentives may have negative consequences. This article suggests people respond more to positive incentives than necessarily to monetary rewards.

Offering women cash rewards to donate blood actually decreases the number of people donating. However letting those same women direct a payment to charity, received for the blood donation is empowering to them. The result is more blood donations. 

Government has long relied on negative incentives, do this and we fine you. Speeding tickets are a perfect example. Fining parents for picking children up late from child care resulted in more, you guessed it, late pickups. People do not respond to negative re inforcement. 

Interesting article.  

As one prof told me at Texas State, everyone wants to be something they are not. And so seven schools want to become Tier One Universities, you know like College Station and Austin. No not the football team silly, the research. This article notes that Univ of Houston awarded 239 PhD degrees last year. Perhaps so but I suspect a breakdown would reveal that half of those were in Education and Liberal Arts. Nothing wrong with that but these are not the fields that spawn computer chips and medical brfeakthroughs, that would be engineering and medical school. Meanwhile every school is bent on showing they do more research by requiring profs to publish in academic journals.

One student at Texas State who transferred from UT Austin told me it was the best decision she ever made. Her largest class at Tx State was smaller than her smallest class at UT, and there she was talking to her instructor, me, she said that never happened at UT Austin. My take is that UT and A M College Station should probably be graduate only, they have undergrad classes in accounting with 300 students. This is to get the undergrad tuition, certainly not to have good teaching. The desire for more and more money brings more and more enrollment and more large classes which as I point out in managerial accounting lowers fixed cost and increases contribution margin, the Proctor and Gamble approach to education. Happily that is not the case here at A & M San Antonio.

Just wondering, have any of you ever had a professor who required you to read an article in an academic journal?

Hmmmm…….

It is not possible to trade a large vehicle when gasoline is high for  a small one and ever come out saving money on fuel, will not happen. But that is what short sighted consumers do.  And so

trucks are back, yep all those two ton and up gas guzzling behemoths the Dems say they dislike, are moving off the lots. The Toyota Prius is now selling with a $750 rebate. Sales of the hybrid are down 35%. Meanwhile the government is pushing all sorts of carbon taxes. Will Congress save Chrysler and GM to make green cars that sell slowly to the public?