Greenspan’s Written Testimony Received in Congress
The House Goverment Oversight and Reform Committee received Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan’s testimony which opened by calling the economic downturn a “tsunami.” The 1033 word document summarizes Greenspan’s take on the source of the crisis, policies for going forward, expectations for the future, as well as lessons learned. It does not address the views of those who criticize Greenspan.
It ends with the statement: This crisis will pass, and America will reemerge with a far sounder financial system.
John Snow, former Secretary of the Treasury, and Christopher Cox, Chairman of the SEC, also testified.
Source: NPR
Tax I.Q. Test
“I have a Ph.D. from an Ivy League university and my wife is a CPA and we are still incapable of doing our own taxes.” -Political Science Professor, University of Wisconsin, 2004
According to that professor, you cannot expect to be able to do your own taxes just because you’re smart. So, should you seek guidance in paying your taxes? When you have ten minutes, check this out – the Tax IQ test. It’s 25 questions and it covers basic taxpayer concepts.
Don’t worry if your score is low – there’s still plenty of study time before April!
Source: Tax Law Blog
New Gmail Labs Feature: Canned Responses
Gmail Labs is a fun playground for using features that haven’t made it yet as a standard Gmail. Earlier this month they launched Mail Goggles which caused much fervor and debate in the Fastcase office over the utility of such a feature. With the launch of canned responses there can be no question in terms of utility of this new feature. The ability to reply to an email with a standard script is one that I’m sure most business users who have migrated their platforms to Gmail Apps have been clamoring for.
If you are interested in trying out canned responses select settings in Gmail and then labs.
Source: Gmail Blog
MIT OpenCourseWare: The Law of Corporate Finance and Financial Markets
MIT OpenCourseWare
Interested in learning more about the law and how it relates to corporate finance? MIT is offering class materials to allow you to self study how the law interplays with financial markets and corporate finance. MIT is part of the OpenCourseWare initiative which publishes the course materials of previously held classes. You can follow along the lecture notes and and learn more about this subject at your own pace. The course description and class materials link are below.
Course Description
Much of 15.617 focuses on mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and the law-sensitive aspects of financial services and financial markets. The course is designed to be an introduction to business law that covers the fundamentals, including contracts, liability, regulation, employment, and corporations. This class also provides an in-depth treatment of the law of finance
Download the course materials here: The Law of Corporate Finance and Financial Markets
Proposition K Could Legalize Prostitution in San Francisco
If Proposition K passes this November, San Francisco could certain sections of Nevada and Rhode Island where prostitution is legal behind closed doors Proponents say that if prostitution is legalized, sex workers will be able to organize for rights and safety. Plus, it will free up $11 million dollars in police power each year.
Opponents argue that the crime of prostitution does not exist in a vaccuum and that deregulation will cause other crimes to increase. First, they argue that making prostitution legal will hinder the fight against sex trafficking which is the practice of forcing people into the sex trade. The proposal would make it difficult to investigate rings. Additionally, police would be prohibited from accepting federal or state funds for sex trafficking investigations that involve racial profiling.
Source: Breitbart