So JP Morgan Chase is ready to pony up just under a billion in fines to hopefully end regulatory action regarding trading losses of several additional billions that slipped under the radar earlier this year. It makes sense that JPMC’s managers would like to get out from under. The losses emanated in London, with New York top managers oblivious for a while which, in turn, kept the Board out of the loop, all of which tended to tarnish the bank’s reputation as a finely tuned enterprise steered by geniuses.
Author Archives: Dr. O
Women Get the Business at HBS
Well, what a surprise–gender inequity at the Harvard Business School is long-entrenched and, at least for female faculty, likely to continue (check out the neat 5 slide chart in the story). In the classroom, school administrators are intent on engineering more rapid change in, and for, female students. Whether this works–the outcome seems uncertain given the tenor of this piece–the last paragraph underscores that HBS will continue to punch the tickets of “born on third base” and/or legacy admits–George W. Bush was one; so was Mitt Romney–for their first class seats on the bullet train to the economic/political power centers of the U.S.
Police Pursuits Pared
Milwaukee, which has cut back on police pursuits, is one of many jurisdiction’s doing so. The results, which are also the reasons for the policy change, strongly suggest that the change, overall, is a good thing.
Sandy? Not By My House
Building dunes protects barrier beach communities as a whole but some homeowners don’t care, fighting to keep man-made dunes away from their houses. This creates a ready breach for storm waters to rush through, flooding adjacent properties whether or not dunes front those houses to hold off the ocean or bay. The end of the story details the status of lawsuits by dune-resistant homeowners, on 5th Amendment grounds, to recover the value allegedly stripped from their homes by recently erected dunes.
Nullification? Ask Civil War Dead
So Missouri wants to nullify all federal gun legislation. Apparently the whole idea of nullification has a lot of folks excited. This is neither a new nor a good idea. Look up John Calhoun, and see where nullification led back in the day–namely the Civil War and over one million casualties out of 30 million U.S. citizens. That would be 10 million casualties today. Nullification! What an idea!
Stop and Frisk
The “stop and frisk” policing tactic is currently very high profile, and a double-edged sword organizationally, since crime gets driven down, community resentment gets driven up and a fine 4th amendment line gets walked and, as recent court rulings regarding the NYPD have held, are sometimes crossed, (Posting this article is also a test of whether a public URL from this particular publication persists, so the answer is no if you click above and nothing happens.)
Pinstriped Wall of Silence!
So, now a pinstriped (prosecutors) wall of silence joins the “blue” (cops), “white” (doctors) and “black” (priests) wall of silence. Time to recognize these walls as a generic feature of organizations dominated by members of a primary occupational group who “understand” why corners may be cut, may themselves do it and, therefore, reflexively defend colleagues who do get caught. Viewpoints.
How to Run a Police Department
This is up here for benefit of one of my classes but is also is a very good look at the moment in time when the NYPD was transformed from a reactive department into a proactive force focused on relentlessly driving down crime.
How to Run a Police Department by George L. Kelling, City Journal Autumn 1995.
Government Oversight Abroad
Constitutional differences, and even citizens’ higher acceptance of government’s role, can affect how agencies are monitored. England’s Inspectorate of Prisons (a separate Inspectorate monitors the police) is a case in point.
JP Morgan Saga Unfolds
Arrests imminent in the bank’s multibillion dollar trading loss, says the Times. Perhaps we’ll learn how easy it is to pull off fast and loose behavior in the vaunted world of high finance, but I suspect we’ll see plea deals, as opposed to a trial that pulls the covers off what really goes on.