LARRY HARRIS, professor of finance and business economics: “Most people believe that insider trading is simply unfair. … But what seems cut and dried to the public is a more nuanced issue to market experts, economists and legal scholars. Their arguments pro and con are being aired again in the wake of Raj Rajaratnam’s sentencing.” For full article, see the Los Angeles Times.
ELIZABETH CURRID-HALKETT, assistant professor of urban planning: “The idea that art can be an economic engine is hardly new, and a walk through SoHo, Venice Beach or Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood shows it can work. The N.E.A.’s promotional material makes clear that its goal is to create new SoHo’s in hard-hit cities across the country. But contrary to the N.E.A.’s good intentions, it takes more than grants and tax breaks to make the arts thrive. Too often, art-driven revitalization efforts...
RHACEL SALAZAR PARRENAS, professor of sociology: “I spent nine months in Tokyo working as a hostess in a working-class club in one of the city’s many red-light districts, frequented by members of the yakuza, the Japanese crime syndicates. This type of place, in a seedy location, owned by a proprietor with a questionable background, was often assumed to be a site of forced prostitution. In 2005 and 2006, I resorted to this work as a way of gaining access...
STEVEN J. ROSS, professor of history: “Once upon a time, Barack Obama understood the power of a good story. His campaign mantras — “Yes we can” and “Change we can believe in” — inspired voters, especially young people, blacks and Latinos, and propelled him into the White House. But once in office, Obama lost the thread of the plot. He abandoned his original message and embraced compromise and bipartisanship rather than pushing for dramatic change. That narrative hasn’t gotten...
CINNY KENNARD, senior fellow, Annenberg Center at USC: “After Clarence Thomas was narrowly confirmed, I knocked on the door again. Anita Hill finally opened it and came outside. I begged her to say something. America’s women, I said, wanted to hear from her on this historic night. “Do you have anything to say to Justice Thomas?” I asked.” For full article, see the Huffington Post.
