Having avoided a chaotic bankruptcy, the Detroit Three and, by extension, the broader Michigan community must now carry out deep new cuts in the economic fiber of the state.

“There’s going to be fewer factories, fewer salaried and hourly workers, lower compensation, fewer brands, fewer models, fewer dealers,” Dana Johnson, senior economist with Dallas-based Comerica Inc., said of the near-term outlook. “Everything is going to continue to be rapidly downsized, just not in as chaotic a process if they had not gotten the financing.”

Given the importance of the auto industry to Michigan, the restructuring inevitably will bleed over into a broader cultural shift in how Michiganders see themselves and their economic life, said Doug Rothwell, president of the corporate leadership group Detroit Renaissance.

“The culture is the thing we’ve got to deal with the most, and that’s the toughest to deal with,” Rothwell said. He cited attitudes toward education, race and geographic boundaries among things that influence Michigan’s economic outlook — “all the stuff that’s tied us up in knots for years.”

“That’s the stuff we’ve got to work through and get through if we’re going to be competitive in the future,” he said.

Certainly employees of the Detroit Three felt the anxiety as much as the relief Friday at avoiding Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Bryan Mahlmeister, a marketing research manager for General Motors Corp., said Friday that he and his fellow workers have lots of questions about how the restructuring will take place.

“You just can’t make all these changes and cuts to all these programs and get rid of brands without eliminating more people,” he said. “There’s going to be a lot of angst in the first quarter just to see how things go.”

More declines predicted

Indeed, economist Johnson forecasts a further decline in Michigan’s labor force in 2009 as the auto restructuring and national recession bite deep. He projects a loss of another 30,000 jobs in the automotive industry next year and 60,000 nonautomotive jobs — “another year of recession.”

The relief felt over the federal auto loans, therefore, must be tempered by the unpleasant reality of what those loans mean. “There was never a happy outcome,” Johnson said. “There was just a less-bad outcome.”

Broadly speaking, Michigan’s economic and cultural life has been defined for decades by a beneficence bestowed by GM, Ford Motor Co., Chrysler and their suppliers. That corporate largesse included everything from company-wide shutdowns during the Christmas holidays to superlative blue-collar wages and benefits and bountiful support to local charities.

That culture legacy has been under strain for years as Detroit Three market shares contracted year by year.

Though more diversified than a generation ago, Michigan’s auto legacy still weighs on the labor market. The state has seen eight consecutive years of job loss and over the past year has led or been near the top among states in unemployment, which hit 9.6% last month.

Visible cracks in metro Detroit’s self-image showed up in decreased giving to the annual United Way campaign, the dwindling of automotive payrolls, and, as recently as last week, the canceling of the 2009 Grand Prix auto races on Belle Isle for insufficient sponsorships.

Though wounded, the Detroit Three continue to influence all aspects of local life and will for decades to come.

At Andiamo restaurant in the Renaissance Center, Mike Nowinski, the operating partner, said he had been watching CNN daily in hopes the auto companies would get the federal money needed to survive.

“GM is our lifeblood here and also for the country, I think. If this bridge did not come through, this country would be in big trouble,” he said Friday, shortly after President George W. Bush announced the federal loans.

A new definition

Inevitably, though, Detroit and Michigan may come to define themselves less by three giant corporations and more by middle-market firms, as most other states do, Rothwell said.

After all, nonautomotive firms like software giant Compuware Corp., mortgage company Quicken Loans, and the pizza-sports-entertainment empire Ilitch Holdings have emerged as new corporate leaders in recent years.

“Clearly the corporate culture and the makeup and structure of the corporate community is changing before our eyes right now,” Rothwell said.

And many efforts are afoot to add well-paying research jobs to the state economy, even as Michigan strives to remain the nation’s automotive brain center not only for the domestic automakers but also for companies such as Toyota and Nissan, which have technical centers there. For example, the University of Michigan announced last week it would buy the facilities Pfizer has vacated in Ann Arbor and would work to add 2,000 research jobs over the next decade.

But just how much Detroit and Michigan must change remains a subject of sharp debate. Johnson scoffed at the notion that Michigan needs to model itself after, say, Alabama, a mostly nonunion, low-tax, lower-wage state distrustful of government.

“Some adjustments in attitudes required? Yeah,” Johnson said. “But a wholesale remaking of the business culture in Michigan? I don’t think so.”

Rothwell, too, suggested a different model than Alabama for Michigan to emulate: North Carolina. The mid-Atlantic state has lost a lot of its previous industry but has built a progressive reputation as a haven for high technology.

“It’s a reasonable, attainable goal for Michigan,” Rothwell said. “It’s probably going to take us a decade or more to get there. We probably started late on this path. But nevertheless, there are a lot of initiatives in place that are moving us in that direction.”

Johnson agreed.

“I think Michigan will figure out a way to do what Pittsburgh did, what New England did,” he said. “Both of those areas lost key industries earlier on than Michigan. But they found a way to come back, and Michigan will, too.”
Source
Permanent link to this post: http://blog.yourfinancelink.com/2008/12/michigan-prepares-for-next-financial-challenge/

BEIJING, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) — Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said here Tuesday in response to the global financial crisis, China will focus on expanding domestic demand as an effective way to stimulate economic growth.

Wen made the remarks when meeting with President Robert Zoellick of the World Bank (WB). Wen briefed the WB President about China’s economic situation and its measures to address the global financial crisis.

Wen said China, with a 1.3-billion population, has yet to overcome the disparity between urban and rural areas, relatively low per capita incomes and a relatively large number of poverty-stricken people.

Wen said China’s move to expand domestic demand is aimed to gradually meet the people’s demands through economic growth, which will be achieved by stimulating the ultimate consumption market.

To meet this end, Wen said China will focus on improving incomes of rural residents and social security for low-income groups. He said China will strive to expand employment. It will also work on the development of such social causes as education, medical service and culture. Wen said China will advance development of infrastructure in rural areas, including drinking water, bio-gas, roads, electricity and telecommunications. He said China will continue to protect the environment, while working on the rehabilitation of earthquake-stricken areas and poverty elimination.

Zoellick said the current financial global crisis calls for closer cooperation among the international community. He said the World Bank will continue to play a role in helping China overcome difficulties in financing and employment.

Zoellick appreciated the Chinese government’s measures to expand domestic demand. He said sustaining its own economy will be China’s biggest contribution to maintaining financial stability and the economic growth of the world.

Zoellick also met with Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang Monday.

Li said during the meeting that the World Bank should play its due role as the world’s largest multilateral development financial institute to help developing countries to fend off external impacts and maintain financial stability and economic growth.

Li said China has been participating in international cooperation on addressing the financial crisis. He said China will continue to act in a responsible way by making its own contribution to maintaining the stability of global finance and economy.

Li said the fundamentals and long-term trend of China’s economic growth remained unchanged despite the many difficulties and grim challenges it faces.

Zoellick spoke highly about China’s performance in addressing the global financial crisis. He expressed the willingness to further expand cooperation between the World Bank and China.
Source
Permament link to this post: Chinese premier discusses financial crisis with World Bank president

‘No concrete measure was decided,’ Economy Minister Michael Glos said after the six-hour meeting finished.

The goal of the meeting had been to reflect on possible measures, he added, with the government aiming to decide on specific actions by the end of January.

Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck said everything would be done to avoid job losses.

The time had come for ‘us to take joint responsibility, as the government cannot handle the economic situation alone’, Ms Merkel told a press conference before the meeting.

Ms Merkel has made defending German jobs a top priority but increasing numbers have been lost in Europe’s biggest economy in recent weeks.

The criticism of the government has particularly hurt as Ms Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) prepare for a legislative election in 2009. The CDU is in a coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD).

German economic experts and officials have said her 31 billion euro (40 billion dollar) economic stimulus is not enough.

Other European Union members have also pressured for Merkel to spend more.

Quoting government sources, the weekly Wirtschaftswoche reported the government is preparing a second 30-billion-euro economic plan that will include investment and fiscal incentives.

The package is not expected to be announced until the end of January, giving Merkel time to prepare an anti-crisis strategy within the government, the weekly said.

Ms Merkel is to meet state and local government leaders this week.

Der Spiegel magazine said in its latest edition that the government now expects the economy to shrink by two per cent in 2009. The official government forecast is for a fall of up to one per cent. — AFP
Source

Getting a refinance on your mortgage is common practice nowadays due to the drop in interest rates and the receptiveness of borrowers toward the idea of refinancing. Although many have vouched for its benefits, house owners should evaluate their personal preferences, financial standing, and current mortgage status and compare these with the various options available before planning their next move.

There are many facts surrounding the concept of refinancing and this article will provide you with an insight of important aspects which you need to know in order to make an informed decision. Refinancing your mortgage is for the long-term and thus needs to be a choice that is thoroughly considered.

1. Penalty Costs
The process of refinancing basically means paying off your current mortgage and obtaining another mortgage at a different interest rate (usually at an adjustable rate) and loan term. This causes penalty costs to be imposed on your current mortgage by your current lender, as you have opted to pay off your loan earlier than agreed upon. Occasionally, depending on the status of your current loan, penalties incurred may be higher than the cost savings obtained from refinancing your mortgage, therefore making the idea of refinancing no longer attractive.

2. Savings on monthly repayments
When you refinance your mortgage, you may most likely switch to a new mortgage structure that will benefit you in the long run, especially with lower monthly repayments. With the availability of Adjustable Rate Mortgages, interests incurred are relatively lower than the traditional Fixed Rate Mortgages, which has been incentive enough for home owners to switch their mortgage loan plans. However, although interest rates may seem to be lower at first glance, home buyers should practice due diligence in tabulating the actual amounts paid over the long term in comparison with their current mortgage repayments.

3. Transactions costs
As with any mortgage transactions, a refinancing exercise will involve transaction costs such as attorney fees, points, appraisal fees, inspection fees and prepayment penalties. All these hike up the cost of refinancing, which need to be balanced out with the cost savings obtained from switching loans in the first place. As a rule of thumb, if you plan to stay in your current property for the long-term, transaction costs will be offset with savings in repayment amounts over the long-run. Therefore, refinancing will then be a good option for you.

4. Tax deduction possible
Refinancing may help you regain tax deductions on interest if you have already used up your allocated amount for tax deductions. Therefore, with a new mortgage, you will be able to deduct interests paid from your taxable income, thus helping to reduce your taxes payable.

5. Get cash out of your equity
If you have paid up most of your outstanding equity, refinancing will be a good way for you to acquire cash out of your high value equity, incorporating increases in the market value of your property as well. This way, you will have the flexibility to use the extra cash for children education, short term debt repayments or renovations.

6. Increase your home equity
On the flip side, refinancing your mortgage can also work for you if you decide to pay more on monthly repayments and pay off your home equity within a shorter period of time. Another benefit of a shorter loan term is the cost savings gained from lesser total interests paid to the lender.

7. Alternatives to refinancing
Refinancing may not always be the only option for everyone. Other financing products such as a home equity line, allows you to keep your current mortgage but instead have the flexibility to withdraw up to a certain percentage of the current value of your home equity, minus the unpaid portion of your equity. Interests are only charged on the amount withdrawn and not on the approved line of credit. Another option would be to take up a second mortgage, which will be based on a shorter loan term, but with higher interest rates.
Source

A credit card is a form of borrowing that often involves charges. Credit terms and conditions affect your overall cost.
So it’s wise to compare terms and fees before you agree to open a credit or charge card account. The following are some important terms to consider that generally must be disclosed in credit card applications or in solicitations that require no application. You also may want to ask about these terms when you’re shopping for a card.

If you don’t understand the language, credit card offers and statements could lead you to deep debt — or at least furious frustration. For the big scoop on the fine print, here’s what these frequently used credit card terms mean.

1.Average daily balance — This is the method by which most credit cards calculate your payment due. An average daily balance is determined by adding each day’s balance and then dividing that total by the number of days in a billing cycle. The average daily balance is then multiplied by a card’s monthly periodic rate, which is calculated by dividing the annual percentage rate by 12. A card with an annual rate of 18 percent would have a monthly periodic rate of 1.5 percent. If that card had a $500 average daily balance it would yield a monthly finance charge of $7.50.

2.APR(Annual percentage rate) — A yearly rate of interest that includes fees and costs paid to acquire the loan. Lenders are required by law to disclose the APR. The rate is calculated in a standard way, taking the average compound interest rate over the term of the loan, so borrowers can compare loans.

3.Balance transfer — The process of moving an unpaid credit card debt from one issuer to another. Card issuers sometimes offer teaser rates to encourage balance transfers coming in and balance-transfer fees to discourage them from going out.

4.Cash-advance fee — A charge by the bank for using credit cards to obtain cash. This fee can be stated in terms of a flat per-transaction fee or a percentage of the amount of the cash advance. For example, the fee may be expressed as follows: “2%/$10″. This means that the cash advance fee will be the greater of 2 percent of the cash advance amount or $10.

The banks may limit the amount that can be charged to a specific dollar amount. Depending on the bank issuing the card, the cash advance fee may be deducted directly from the cash advance at the time the money is received or it may be posted to your bill as of the day you received the advance. The cost of a cash advance is also higher because there generally is no grace period. Interest accrues from the moment the money is withdrawn.

5.Card holder agreement — The written statement that gives the terms and conditions of a credit card account. The cardholder agreement is required by Federal Reserve regulations. It must include the Annual Percentage Rate, the monthly minimum payment formula, annual fee if applicable, and the cardholder’s rights in billing disputes. Changes in the cardholder agreement may be made, with written advance notice, at any time by the issuer. Rules for imposing changes vary from state to state, but the rules that apply are those of the home state of the issuing bank, not the home state of the cardholder.

6.Finance charge — The charge for using a credit card, comprised of interest costs and other fees.

7.Floor — The minimum rate possible on a variable-rate loan or line of credit, after any initial introductory rate period. For example, on a credit card with the Prime rate as its index, no matter how low the Prime rate drops, the rate on the line may never decrease below the stated rate floor.

8.Free Period — Also called a “grace period,” a free period lets you avoid finance charges by paying your balance in full before the due date. Knowing whether a card gives you a free period is especially important if you plan to pay your account in full each month. Without a free period, the card issuer may impose a finance charge from the date you use your card or from the date each transaction is posted to your account. If your card includes a free period, the issuer must mail your bill at least 14 days before the due date so you’ll have enough time to pay.

9.Minimum payment — The minimum amount a cardholder can pay to keep the account from going into default. Some card issuers will set a high minimum if they are uncertain of the cardholder’s ability to pay. Most card issuers require a minimum payment of two percent of the outstanding balance.

10.Over-the-limit fee — A fee charged for exceeding the credit limit on the card.

11.Periodic rate — The interest rate described in relation to a specific amount of time. The monthly periodic rate, for example, is the cost of credit per month; the daily periodic rate is the cost of credit per day.

12.Pre-approved — A credit card offer with “pre-approved” only means that a potential customer has passed a preliminary credit-information screening. A credit card company can spurn the customers it invited with “pre-approved” junk mail if it doesn’t like the applicant’s credit rating.

13.Secured card — A credit card that a cardholder secures with a savings deposit to ensure payment of the outstanding balance if the cardholder defaults on payments. It is used by people new to credit, or people trying to rebuild their poor credit ratings.

14.Teaser rate — Often called the introductory rate, it is the below-market interest rate offered to entice customers to switch credit cards or lenders.

15.Variable interest rate — Percentage that a borrower pays for the use of money, and which moves up or down periodically based on changes in other interest rates.

I hope this terms will help you out a little when choosing your next credit card.
Source

By Barney Gimbel, writer
Last Updated: December 8, 2008: 11:16 AM ET

NEW YORK (Fortune) — If James Bond’s “License to Kill” gets revoked, he’d have no problem finding work as a corporate spy. To the short list of sectors that stand to gain from the financial crisis, add corporate intelligence firms.

They are seeing a dramatic uptick in business from a surge of banks, private equity firms, and hedge funds that need to make sure those pesky multimillion-dollar investments they made when times were good will hold up.

Firms like Control Risks, a London-based risk consultancy staffed by ex-CIA agents, and its rival, New York-based Kroll say they have seen a 20% jump in new business over the past two months. Together the two firms control the majority of the market.

These spook outfits have long carved out a lucrative business investigating corporate fraud, performing due diligence, or simply ferreting out the things not on a balance sheet - be they a company’s shady associates in Brazil or corrupt investors in Texas.

But in the recent heady times, some fast-moving investment outlets cut corners.

Now they are hoping to save face - and money - before precarious deals fall apart altogether. “The tolerance for failure has diminished,” says Jim Brooks, who heads North American operations for Control Risks.

Already, spies-for-hire are finding a couple of embarrassing flubs.

Consider the more than $300 million that one international bank lent to a sketchy Russian magnate (we’d tell you who it was, but then we’d have to kill you). When he stopped paying his bills, the bank brought in Control Risks to find out where the money had gone. (They found the Russian could have funneled money out of the country through various, seemingly unrelated shell companies.)

Another big client, a Washington-based law firm, hired it to investigate a wealthy, if not highly leveraged, Bolivian who had been claiming poverty while secretly moving his assets to places like Poland, Switzerland and Sylvania.

Tactics range from mundane document searches to clandestine interviews with former employees, customers, or government officials. Much of the work is happening overseas, where public records don’t always exist.

For the Bond wannabes, the new business isn’t adding to the bottom line so much as replacing the business they lost when pre-deal due diligence went out the window. Still, they expect the boom times to continue.

“Companies are only beginning to deal with the situation,” says Bob Brenner, who heads Kroll’s business intelligence and investigations practice in the U.S.

It may not match the martini swilling and jet setting the real Bond gets to do, but it pays the bills, which in these times is exotic-sounding enough.
Source

Just don’t expect him to spend the savings.

“I’d love to tell you I’m going to spend it to help prop up the economy, but we’ve tightened our belts,” said Zeger, 61, a retired attorney. “I plan on holding on to it.”

Zeger echoed homeowners The Associated Press interviewed nationwide who have taken advantage of lower rates since Nov. 25th. They planned to stuff the money they saved under the mattress or pay off bills. Refiinance activity has surged as interest rates tumbled about 1 percentage point to around 5.5 percent in response to the Federal Reserve’s plan to scoop up $600 billion of mortgage-related securities.

“We’ve had a lot homeowners waiting for some time” for this drop in rates, said Ritch Workman, co-owner of Workman Mortgage in Melbourne, Fla.

The Fed’s move was the latest in an unprecedented series of actions to help stabilize the housing and credit markets as well as the broader economy. However, pushing down mortgage rates may only have a muted effect on the economy. That’s because more than a quarter of homeowners with a mortgage can’t qualify for a new loan, and many who can are so financially stretched that little of the money they save will end up in store cash registers.

“If you’re worried about making it month to month and your mortgage is your biggest payment you’re not going out to buy a car and a lot of Christmas gifts,” said Guy Cecala, publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance, a trade publication in Bethesda, Md.

Stuart Cassell in Sarasota, Fla., is putting his $80 monthly refinanse savings into his nest egg, while product development manager Subash Ramnani in Chicago is using the extra $300 a month from his refinancing to pay for graduate school. Jennifer Burke and her husband in Bel Air, Md., are saving the additional $240 a month as they wait out the recession and raise a one-year-old daughter.

Marcus Leef’s $150 monthly savings is going to daycare costs and personal savings. Leef, a consultant in Hartford County, Conn., has seen his stock portfolio plummet 40 percent, his retirement savings plunge by half and his corporate stock tumble by 60 percent this year. He’s not optimistic.

“My view is the economy is in the toilet. It’s going to get worse before it gets better,” he said. “If rates drop another point tomorrow, I’ll (refinance) again the day after.”

Those are the luckiest homeowners. Les Berman, a mortgage broker in Encino, Calif., said most borrowers contacting him have interest-only mortgages and they want to lock into a fixed-rate loan. They’re not saving any money each month if they do that; instead, they’re taking higher payments to get out of riskier loans.

“They want that security. They want to protect themselves against the future,” he said, even if it means shelling out more each month.

Other borrowers, like Eric Dudek in Grand Rapids, Mich., are waiting to see if rates drop further after hearing reports that the government is considering a proposal to lower the rate on 30-year home loans to 4.5 percent by buying more mortgage-backed securities.

“I’m thinking maybe I should hold off, you know?” said Dudek, who would use the savings from a refinancing to pay off student loans.

But he could be waiting in vain because the plan is only expected to apply to purchase loans, not refinance loans. Either way, most borrowers will need more than just lower interest rates to solve their problems.

Brokers are turning away thousands of borrowers because they just won’t qualify for a refinancing. Pava Leyrer, president of Heritage National Mortgage in Michigan, said about 40 percent of the homeowners calling her likely won’t get a refinance because of falling home values, credit issues and job loss.

Likewise, Brad Cohen, vice president of Mason Dixon Funding in Rockville, Md., said as many as two-thirds of borrowers he’s talked to don’t qualify because they owe more on their mortgage than their house is worth.

An estimated 12 million U.S. homeowners are in that situation and declining home prices only exacerbate their situations. Low interest rates won’t be enough and if they fall into default or foreclosure, that will only make the current financial crisis worse.

“There’s no plan in place to help them right now,” Cohen said.

AP Real Estate Writer Alan Zibel in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.
Google news
Article source

The following are the facts involving the Internal Gross income Service and the tax liabilities of an American expat:

The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion

This of obviously, refers to any amount that you may have, or have earned from working in another country besides the US. It includes not just your salary but also any allowance that you may receive as compensation.

To avail of the revenues exclusion, you must meet the following requirements: the first is that you must have lived in that foreign country for at least full year, or have spent at least 330 days from a 12 month epoch. The amount that you can take advantage of can reach up to $80,000. You must, however, file all the necessary papers to the IRS to be a part of this program.

Expats and Self Occupation Tax / the US Social security and Medicare

If you are an expatriate who is employed by a company in the United Sates, it is almost always the case that your proprietor will hold back any Meficare or Social Security.

For those that are their own employers (self employed in other words), you will need to pay up to whatever amount you owe the gate service. Moreover, there is a self employment tax that you will have to pay so that you will be entitled to both Social Security and Medicare.

American Expats Employed by ForeignersIn the mainIf you are working for a corporation in another country, you will not, except in special cases, pay anything to the Internal Revenue Service with respect to your Social Safe keeping, and instead will be covered by that country’s own laws concerning taxation.

Facts about Tax Treaties

If the nation you are in has a tax treaty with the United States, then it is possible that you might have to pay some to the IRS. Currently the US has tax treaties with 60 other nations, and it is therefore crucial that you check if you are covered by this over.
There are several online resources you can check for information concerning this subject, but the best and most reliable place to begin would be at the sanctioned website of the Internal Revenue Service, www.irs.gov

Double Taxation and Foreign Tax Credits

Because of intercontinental agreements it is very possible that you will end up paying a form of double taxation (i.e., paying both the United States and the country you are in suitable now).
While double taxation may be in cases unavoidable there are tax credits that can alleviate some of the costs. Be sure to conduct some examine regarding any tax credits that might be available in your area.

Expat Tax Consultation Firms

Given the intricacy of tax issues, doing fact-finding in both US and foreign country taxation can be hard; the best thing to do is hire a firm to help sort out the issuance. While they may be expensive, you might be able to save a considerable amount if you know and exercise all your options.

Article source: What US Expats Need to Know About Paying Taxes

These types of taxi insurances are very popular these days, as having taxis for public as well as private hire includes a lot of risks, and not opting for any kind of insurance policy will make the running of taxis unaffordable. But one must also be very careful in choosing the company from whom the insurance is obtained, as it is a very specialised field, and very few companies are providing it at genuine prices. Getting a cheap taxi insurance policy may not be a very hard nut to crack because of the competition between the companies.

Obtaining these taxi insurance policies is very easy, as one may register directly over the net or can even consult any executive from the taxi insurance company. The best way to get cheap taxi insurance is to directly get in contact with the wholesale insurance agents as they are well trained and can calculate the minimum amount of premium required to obtain a taxi insurance policy. The prices, or the premium, of the policy is relatively cheap, if there is a good number of a taxis included in the policy. Apart from this, there are three types of taxi insurance policies offered by companies and they are: third party, fully comprehensive, and third party fire & theft.

Read full article: Different Types of Taxi Insurance

— Derivatives and Risk Management: “The Financial Crisis of 2008:
Another Case of Irrational Exuberance” by John Hull, Maple
Financial Group Chair in Derivatives and Risk Management, Professor of
Finance and Co-Director — Master of Finance Program;
— Value Investing: “Value Investing in the Crisis: How Margins of
Safety Melted Away” by Eric Kirzner, John H. Watson Chair in Value
Investing and Professor of Finance;
— Financial Analysis: “Integrative Thinking (or Lack of) and the
Current Crisis” by Ramy Elitzur, Edward Kernaghan Professor of
Financial Analysis and Associate Professor of Accounting;
— Business Economics: “The Financial Crisis of 2008 and the
“Real Economy”: Damage but Not Disaster” by Peter Dungan,
Adjunct Associate Professor of Business Economics and Director — Policy
and Economic Analysis Program;
— International Business: “Global Lessons from the 2008 Financial
Crisis” by Wendy Dobson, Director — Institute for International
Business and Professor of Business Economics;
— Structured Finance: “Subprime, Market Meltdown and Learning from
the Past” by Laurence Booth, CIT Chair in Structured Finance and
Professor of Finance;
— Pension Management: Looking Across the Abyss: Pension Design and
Management in the Twenty-First Century” by Keith Ambachtsheer,
Director — International Centre for Pension Management and Adjunct
Professor of Finance;
— Behavioural Finance: ‘The Influence of Investor Behaviour” by
Lisa Kramer, Canadian Securities Institute Research Foundation Term
Chair and Associate Professor of Finance;
— Corporate Governance: “Where Were the Directors?” by David
Beatty, Conway Director — Clarkson Centre for Business Ethics and Board
Effectiveness and Professor of Strategic Management;
— Leadership: “Rescuing the Global Financial System: The Failure of
American Leadership” by Jim Fisher, Vice-Dean — Programs, CCMF
Chair in Entrepreneurship and Professor of Strategic Management;
— Public Policy: “Carts and Horses and Horses and Carts: How Public
Policy Led to the Subprime Disaster” by Michael Hlinka (Rotman MBA
‘86), Instructor, University of Toronto School of Continuing
Studies and Business Commentator, CBC TV and CBC Radio.

The book will be available at most major book retailers in Canada and also online at www.utppublishing.com and www.rotman.utoronto.ca/financecrisis for a suggested retail price of CDN $24.95.
As previously announced, the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management and the University of Toronto Press have collaborated to create Rotman/UTP Publishing, a new imprint devoted to publishing actionable business information of exceptional quality. The imprint’s first title, Fixing the Future: How Canada’s Usually Fractious Governments Worked Together to Rescue the Canada Pension Plan by Bruce Little, was published in October 2008.
Founded in 1901, the University of Toronto Press is Canada’s oldest scholarly press and one of the largest university presses in North America, releasing over 150 new scholarly, reference, and general-interest books each year, as well as maintaining a backlist of over 1500 titles in print. For more information, visit www.utppublishing.com.
The Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto is redesigning business education for the 21st century with a curriculum based on Integrative Thinking. Located in the world’s most diverse city, the Rotman School fosters a new way to think that enables the design of creative business solutions. The School is currently raising $200 million to ensure Canada has the world-class business school it deserves. For more information, visit www.rotman.utoronto.ca.