National

This topic was discussed on November 11, 2013.

Given the recent furor over the NSA and other governmental programs, the question we will be discussing is “are there activities of the US Government about which Americans do not have a need to know.” to the extent that we agree that there are some activities best kept secret, we will undoubtedly spend most of the time exploring:

• What sort of activities should be secret?
• If not everyone,who should know about these activities? Oversight by Congress? A Congressional committee? The Judiciary? The Administration?

This topic was discussed on November 4, 2013.

Given that we are now in the middle of the college football season, how can we resist turning our attention to football coaches’ pay. With at least two earning more than $5 million per year, is this really where we want our institutions of higher education, especially public ones, to be putting their resources?

Here’s a link to a USA Today article to get you started:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2013/02/11/college-football-coach-salary-changes-ncaa/1907359/

More broadly, there have been lots of news stories about “excessive” executive compensation at non-profits…should college football coaches be paid more than their college president? Should a college president be paid more than a star faculty member? Similar examples come from many sources…non-profit hospitals, foundations, etc.

We’ll discuss this issue (and, undoubtedly, executive compensation at for-profit entities as well) when we meet on November 4.

This topic was discussed on October 21, 2013.
The Federal government has long supported home ownership via its support of the mortgage market through FNMA and FHLMC and a variety of laws and regulations governing other mortgage lender’s activities. Some believe that the benefits of this government support are outweighed by the disruptive side effects of the same intervention.

• Should the US government be in the home mortgage business, directly or indirectly?
• Is home ownership so much more valuable to society (vs. home rental or other housing alternatives) that it merits such support?

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Obama to Insist Market Provides 30-year Mortgages (WaPo 8-5-2013)

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