No less than the CEO of the Institute of Management Accountants weighs in with this article on SARBOX.  He demands change now, noting that London has enacted controls with out the hue and cry over here which has doubled audit fees. Check it out.

DLE

Check out this article on Six Sigma at Motorla.  The authors explain how Six Sigma, a left brain analytical discipline with roots in Deming’s TQM, mates with right brain innovation to come up with products like the RAZAR phone. This is another good example of my increasing interest in DESIGN and that a portion of our curriculum should address it.

Well I never heard much from anyone on their favorite things-Guadalupe liked her apple corer and I liked my digital cam but since thinking about it I would have to add my simple two blad Swiss Army Knife that fits on my keychain as one of the longest running items I still carry around.  With the temp due to drop to 28 this Thursday, I am reminded that natural fibers are best

DLE

Okay, you heard both guest speakers say some of the same things in two days, even though they have never met one another or discussed what we have been doing in class with me.  Each recommended reading Business Week and the WSJ.  In addition, they both recommended improving your public speaking. These are all things we have discussed. The point of the Blog is to highlight news events and how they relate to our class.  We will attempt more class presentations next semester. 

I hope you found time to contact them by e mail and thank  each for their time with us

Ariane E. Urschler

aurschler@coverfour.com

Ken Helfenbein

khelfenbein@hrblock.com

DLE

Perhaps so, in the last month Gary Schilling in his Forbes column and Jim Rogers on Neal Cavuto’s show have both predicted recessions beginning in December.  Now comes Hoisington Investment Management  based in Austin TX.  Their prediction is also based on the combination of a collapsing housing market and an inverted yield curve.  This firm was featured in Scott Burns column in this Sunday’s DMN, they have quite an enviable track record.  Click and see what you think.

DLE

Don’t let the Washington circus fool you, there are always figures that move behind the scenes between adn among various administrations.  This story about  Hank Paulson  reveals a great deal about how things really work at the White House and in shaping foreign policy.  I have mentioned before that no matter what party occupies the White House, someone from Goldman Sachs is usually on the scene. To wit, Robert Rubin, John Bolten, and now Hank Paulson Sec Treasury all worked at Goldman.  Rubin now works with banking giant Citicorp and did sit on the Ford Motor Board, he resigned so Citicorp could help finance selling off various Ford Assets-gee amazing how influence gets peddled isn’t it? 

The article details how weak Bush’s first two Sec Treasury were, I never understood either pick, neither man had any experience on Wall Street.  Paulson just finished his 71 st trip to China, imagine.  now there is experience and policy in the making.  This article is an important read in putting it all together on how things get done!  People who get things done are well connected, well traveled, and usually quite rich as a result. 

Forensic heads up, don’t miss the article on the front page of the tuesday Nov 21 WSJ,
it describes how the FBI is working to catch crooks in cyberspcace particularly working in other countries.  Note, applicants need math, computer, and accounting skills!

Well the debate continues about whether there is a growing divide between the haves and have nots in the USA.  There are numerous op ed pieces and articles in the news about Dem versus Republican ideas on how to do this.  What do you think?  Now understand I am not trying nor do I desire to start a Rep vs Dem debate here. But you have now been exposed to enough economics and accounting to make some fo these desicions for yourself.  So what say you?

Is there an unfair divide economically in the US?
Are there ways to over come this divide, you know like education, new job skills? Welfare certainly didn’t work.
What role should govt play in all this?
Does raising the minimum wage narrow the divide or decrease job opportunities, think about this the next time you pump your own gas or order a pizza….
What about ideas like differing income tax rates or the negative income tax, the earned income credit?
Do such schemes create unintended consequences of social behavior? ie, if you tell someone they will get a check if they do not make over say $24K, what will it then take for them to go ahead and start making over $24K and reject the check?  Or will they report $24K and ‘go underground’ and play the cash only economy to avod reporting wages which will keep them from getting their negative income tax bonus? And it works both ways…. In fact the whole stock option scandal got really going when congress denied companies the ability to expense a salary above $1M.  So execs signed up for stock options which were not expensed and resulted in capital not ordinary income-see what I mean, more unintended consequences.
Okay what about requiring some accomplishment or at least attempting to nurture that accomplishment in trying to improve one’s skills?  For example, if one cannot keyboard, one is being sadly left behind in the information economy.  Yet, and please start noticing this, every day I see folks taking way more time to do simple tasks because they cannot keyboard or touch type.  Just yesterday I saw it in a convenience store or a cleaners or a pawn shop.  Why don’t we offer some sort of reward for people who take  a keyboard class and they can show a proficiency, you know, teach some one to fish rather than give them a fish?

Your thoughts?

DLE

Freedom Writers  is the latest in a long line of significant stories about struggle in the classroom.  This one stars Hillary Swank  whom I have admired from The Next karate Kid to Insomnia to Million Dollar Baby.  You can see the trailer by clicking on the link.  This genre got started with Glenn Ford in Black Board Jungle, then Rebel Without a Cause with James Dean, To Sir With Love with Sidney Poitier, sorta kinda Mr. Holland’s Opus except here Mr. Holland is losing his job, Dangerous Minds with Michelle Pfeiffer, anyway

In this one Hillary is the new teacher in the San Diego Barrio. She urges her students to write down their frustrations in journals rather than engage in the existing violence that is destroying their civilization, or as I like to say, Write that Down!

Now, here’s the interesting part, instead of just promoting the movie with banner ads, website, etc. Paramount is using widgets as outline in a story  on page B 4 of the Thursday  Nov 21 WSJ.  Click on
Freewebs  to learn more about  widgets.  See that calendar on my left hand bar on this blog, that’s a widget, it highlights days I have made a post and takes you to them.  Widgets are now morphing into photos, surveys and other cool stuff. 

Which reminds me I am looking for a few volunteers. I would like to do some one minute digital videos of what you think about UNT Dallas as a student.  Raul Hinojosa is planning a You Tube site for UNT Dallas and I think it would be fun to include some of these, or on the blog.  Any takers?

DLE

Tucked away on page B 5 is of the Weekend Journal is the PCAOB announcement that the internal control rules are not going away.  We will be studying a good deal more on this in Systems and Audit the next two semesters.

A new biography on Mae West reveals a lady of considerable more talent than her screen persona might have suggested.  Where are today’s ladies to look for a feminine role ?  Madonna, Brittany, Jennifer, I think not.  Try the real thing, a woman unafraid of herself who spent ten days in jail for what was then seen as a ‘lewd play.’   Check it out on Page P 10 in the Weekend Journal.

Indeed what could say it better than I’m No Angel  in a day and age where woman had toned down roles to say the least.  Click on the link and read the review, you might be surprised that feminism is not a year 2006 discovery!