In less than two months, regulators have seized 14 banks. Experts think many more banks will collapse before the financial crisis is over. "We'll have a banner year [of failures] this year," said Stuart Greenbaum, retired dean and professor emeritus at the WUSTL's Olin Business School.

References:

1. Feb. 20, 2009 — Get ready for a wave of bank failures in the CNNMoney.com

Workers of the Republic Windows & Doors factory began a sit-in protest after the plant closed leaving hundreds without jobs, severance pay or health insurance. Includes comments by labor law expert and WUSTL law professor emeritus Neil Bernstein.

References:

1. Dec. 8, 2008 — Parties to meet over Chicago factory sit-in in the USA Today

and 1 others.

Anticipating a national rule on mercury removal from coal flue gas, technology providers jockey for position in this new market. Pratim Biswas, who chairs the department of energy, environmental, and chemical engineering at WUSTL, says titanium dioxide shows promise as an efficient mercury-removal mechanism.

References:

1. Nov. 24, 2008 — Getting Rid Of Mercury in the Chemical & Engineering News

WUSTL law professor Samuel Buell comments on prosecuting white-collar crimes.

References:

1. Oct. 31, 2008 — Commentary: Jailing Executives Is One Thing Bush Did Right in the Bloomberg.com

With markets doing, well, better, what's going on with the rest of the economy? Another way of asking that question: Are we in a recession? Kai Rysdall brings up the dreaded "R" word with WUSTL economist Steve Fazzari.

References:

1. Oct. 14, 2008 — For real recovery, credit's just a start in the NPR Marketplace

Wayne Fields, WUSTL political rhetoric expert, comments on the federal government's financial rescue plan and the pitfalls of calling it a bailout.

References:

1. Sept. 29, 2008 — The new bailout pitch: It's NOT a bailout in the Associated Press

and 19 others.

The Bush administration is expected to seek sweeping new powers from Congress next week to pull off its still-sketchy rescue plan. The bailout could operate through a newly formed federal agency, in the same vein as the Resolution Trust Corp., which was established two decades ago to unwind failed thrifts.
WUSTL banking professor Stuart Greenbaum comments.

References:

1. Sept. 20, 2008 — How will the plan work? in the Chicago Tribune

and 2 others.

P rofessor Stuart Greenbaum comments on the ways that bankers, politicians and economists are grasping for ways to address the financial crisis.

References:

1. Sept. 19, 2008 — Would a Resolution Trust Corp.-type solution work? in the Los Angeles Times

and 3 others.

Widespread efforts by companies to prevent consumers from pursuing class-action suits against them are increasingly getting quashed by state courts. "There is an increasing sense on the part of courts that [corporate] accountability in the marketplace is being eliminated" by class-action prohibitions, says WUSTL law professor and consumer law specialist Michael Greenfield.

References:

1. July 3, 2008 — Recent Rulings Bolster the Case for Class Actions in the The Wall Street Journal

The Senate cleared three nominees to the Securities and Exchange Commission, agreeing by unanimous consent to confirm Luis Aguilar, Elisse Walter and Troy Paredes. WUSTL law professor Troy Paredes will serve a full five-year term ending in June 2013 and will succeed Paul Atkins, a Republican commissioner.

References:

1. June 28, 2008 — Senate Approves Nominees to SEC, Federal Reserve in the The Wall Street Journal

and 3 others.

The Bush administration nominated WUSTL law professor Troy Paredes to fill a Republican commissioner slot at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

References:

1. May 7, 2008 — Bush to Nominate Paredes to SEC in the The Wall Street Journal

and 2 others.

President Bush intends to nominate WUSTL law school professor Troy Paredes to fill a Republican member vacancy of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Paredes has taught securities regulation, corporate governance and other subjects at WUSTL since 2001.

References:

1. May 6, 2008 — President Bush to nominate Paredes for SEC commissioner post in the Associated Press

and 20 others.

WUSTL law professor Scott Kieff writes a commentary about regulating Microsoft.
He is also a research fellow at Stanford University' s Hoover Institution, where he runs the Hoover Project on Commercializing Innovation, which studies the law, economics and politics of innovation.

References:

1. March 11, 2008 — Commentary: Let The Markets Regulate Microsoft in the Forbes.com

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales faced tough questions during the Senate Judiciary Committee over his role in the firing of eight federal prosecutors.
WUSTL law professor Samuel Buell, who is a former Enron prosecutor, was one of the experts speaking in this broadcast.

References:

1. April 19, 2007 — What Will Senate Hearings Mean for Gonzales? in the NPR - Talk Of The Nation

Bank of America said that it was cooperating with a Justice Department investigation into bidding practices in the municipal bond business in exchange for leniency.
Investigators are examining whether there was collusion among some financial institutions in bidding to handle the bond revenue during those interim periods.
WUSTL law professor Kathleen Brickey, who specializes in white-collar crime, comments.

References:

1. Feb. 10, 2007 — U.S. Inquiry on Bonds at Big Bank in the The New York Times

and 1 others.

Northwest Airlines Corp. flight attendants on Thursday asked to be released from federal mediation so they can strike the carrier after a federal judge ruled they couldn't walk off the job. WUSTL law professor and labor relations expert Neil Bernstein comments.

References:

1. Sept. 15, 2006 — Judge again blocks flight attendants from striking against Northwest Airlines in the Associated Press
2. Sept. 22, 2006 — Attendants seek mediation end in the Chicago Tribune

and 5 others.

Last year 2.4% of U.S. public companies were hit with securities class actions. Virtually all of those cases will be settled for pennies on the dollar--1.2% of maximum estimated losses in 2005, according to economic consultant Cornerstone Research. But loss as typically defined in securities suits has no connection to the economic reality of stock investing. A "fraud" that inflates a share price helps the investor who sells as much as it hurts the one who buys. Washington University researcher Anjan Thakor found that 31% of institutional investors showed a profit trading stocks of 480 companies that were later sued for fraud.

References:

1. June 19, 2006 — Tightening noose in the Forbes

Supporters of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac say that cutting their massive mortgage portfolios would doom the housing market. Critics say those same portfolios create the risk of an LTCM-style meltdown that would doom financial markets. They could both be wrong. One of the studies mentioned was a 2004 paper co-authored by WUSTL's real estate and finance professor Michael LaCour-Little, which found that the U.S. government-sponsored entities (GSEs) that buy and hold mortgages in an effort to keep borrowing costs low and make home-buying more affordable, gave homeowners just a 0.24-percentage-point advantage on their mortgage rates.

References:

1. March 3, 2006 — Debate over Fannie, Freddie takes place in the extremes in the Wall Street Journal

U. Pittsburgh professor Ken Lehn looks at the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act on its 10th anniversary. He mentions a recent study co-authored by WUSTL business professor Anjan Thakor which reveals a fundamental problem: The compensation investors receive in settlements of federal securities class-actions does not correspond to the harm investors incur from alleged securities fraud.

References:

1. Feb. 15, 2006 — Commentary: Private insecurities in the Wall Street Journal

WUSTL law professor and labor relations expert Neil Bernstein comments on union negotiations with Northwest Airlines over whether the company could throw out contracts with pilots and flight attendants.Bernstein said the judge's main concern was helping the airline sort out its financial problems and survive — not how much the workers get paid.

References:

1. Feb. 16, 2006 — Northwest fate may hang on judge's decision in the USA Today

and 32 others.