|
|
| New Blog Address -As of June 2009 we will be moving our blog to a new address. We will continue to update this page with announcements. Please mark this address in your bookmarks, and if you use a RSS reader, please subscribe to the blog to be sure you get the latest postings. The new blog allows comments and other new features so please let us know your suggestions or comments. The new blog address is www.newsouthobjectivistblog.blogspot.com
|
|
| John Allison to Speak In Clemson March 3, 2009 -The Clemson Institute for the Study of Capitalism is proud to present John A. Allison, IV, Chairman and former CEO of BB&T Corp., to deliver the spring lecture in this year's John W. Pope Lecture Series.
Leadership and Values
A Lecture by John A. Allison, IV (Chariman and former CEO of BB&T Bank)
Allison's lecture will address the genesis and implementation of his BB&T Values program at the company. He will explore how today's confusion about values has led to poor leadership and how an integrated vision of values can help develop better leaders as well as serve as a practical means to achieve success and happiness.
John A. Allison joined BB&T in 1971 and has held a variety of responsibilities. He became president of BB&T in 1987 and was elected Chairman and CEO in 1989. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MBA from Duke University. Under his leadership, BB&T has become a premier financial holding company, ranking as the nation's fourteenth largest. It holds more than $130 billion in assets and has over 1,500 branches in the southeast United States.
Date: Monday, March 2, 2009.
Time: 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. (doors open at 4:15)
Place: Self Auditorium in the Strom Thurmond Institute on the Clemson University campus
Details: This event is free and open to the public. The lecture will be followed by a brief question and answer period. Limited employee and visitor parking is available at the Strom Thurmond Institute. Visitors to the Clemson campus should proceed to the visitor's center (109 Daniel Dr. in Clemson) to obtain a temporary parking pass.
|
|
| “Financial Trauma: Causes and Possible Cures” -A Lecture by Mr. John Allison, President and CEO of BB&T Corporation: “Financial Trauma: Causes and Possible Cures”
November 19, 2008, 3:30 PM
Griffith Theatre, at the Bryan Center, Duke University (Directions)
As the world struggles with the current financial crisis, we should listen to the executives of successful financial institutions. BB&T is such an institution.
Mr. Allison will outline the causes of today’s financial chaos, including the errors that led to the crisis. He will discuss the broader implications for the economy, including the effects on the housing and mortgage industries, and offer economic and political suggestions for both short-term and long-term cures.
John A. Allison became CEO of BB&T on July 7, 1989. At the end of 1989, BB&T was ranked 96th largest bank in the nation with $4.8 billion in assets. After 60 bank and thrift acquisitions, and the implementation of innovative training and measurement programs, the former eastern North Carolina farm bank has grown to become the nation’s 14th largest financial holding company. Assets have increased from $4.8 billion, when Allison began his tenure as CEO, to $137 billion today.
Sponsor: The Program on Values and Ethics in the Marketplace, Duke University
|
|
| PRIOR EVENTS: Free Speech in a Globalized World -Notice of a Special Event: A Lecture by Mr. Flemming Rose, editor of Jyllands-Posten, publisher of the Danish Muhhamad cartoons, on "Free Speech in a Globalized World."
When: Thursday, October 30, 2008, 7:00 PM
Where: Page Auditorium, Duke University (directions: http://maps.duke.edu/building.php?bid=7716)
In September 2005 the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published a series of cartoons depicting the Islamic figure Muhammad with images of terrorism. The newspaperʼs publishers stated that they wanted to bring issues of free speech and censorship forward into public awareness. The result was a firestorm of protest, ordered by clerics some weeks after the publication, that highlighted the seriousness of this issue. Over one hundred people were killed in the ensuing riots.
This event will be a unique opportunity to hear the cultural editor of this publication explain the decision to publish these cartoons, the issues at stake in the decision, and the meaning of the protests and the violence that followed. A Q&A will follow the talk.
Flemming Rose is a journalist with long experience in European, Russian, and American issues. He has been awarded the "Free Speech Award" from the Danish Free Press Society.
Web Site: www.committeeforfreespeech.com
Contact : John Lewis, Visiting Associate Professor of Political Science, Duke University, john.d.lewis@duke.edu
|
|
| Chair for Study of Objectivism Funded at UT -
|
|
| PRIOR EVENTS: Andrew Bernstein's Visit To South Carolina -
Philosopher and Author Andrew Bernstein's appearances in Greenville were outstanding successes.
On Saturday, November 10th, at 3:00 PM, Dr. Bernstein addressed a general public audience at the Coffee Underground theater, titled "The Literary Revolution of Atlas Shrugged." It was a fascinating lecture. Scott Crosby's notes are loaded on this site at Portals/0/lectures/Atlas Shrugged as Literature 2007-11-10.pdf
We had an attendance of about 35 people of whom around 15 were general public - total strangers but the pay off of our publicity efforts was that a high school English teacher brought 6-9 of her advanced placement students. This is the audience we wish to reach and we succeeded.
On Thursday, November 8th, at 7:00 PM, Dr. Bernstein lectured at Furman University on the topic: "Global Capitalism - The Solution to World Poverty and Oppression." This was sponsored by the Furman conservative students club. It was a great lecture describing the benefits of capitalism. A Marxist professor asked the last question which was that the achievements of capitalism were made by slavery, expropriation of Indians, etc. Andy hit this slow curve ball out of the park. His answer was that slavery, expropriation, war, etc were the normal throughout most of history. If that was the way to progress and wealth why did these not occur centuries earlier?
Check out a part of what Mr. Bernstein had to say by clicking here: Portals/0/lectures/Global Capitalism 2007-11-08.pdf
|
|
Location: Blogs News & Commentary - The NSO Blog |
 |
| Posted by: admin |
2/6/2009 |
"Capitalism the Unknown Ideal" contains a section entitled "Are Periodic Depressions Inevitable in a System of Laissez-Faire Capitalism?" That article refers to an analogy that was described then as "an invaluable metaphor from Alan Greenspan." According to Greenspan, "if under laissez-faire, the banking system and the principles controlling the availability of funds act as a fuse that prevents a blowout in the economy -- then the government, through the Federal Reserve System, put a penny in the fusebox. The result was the explosion and Crash of 1929."
If in the 1960's and before there was already a penny in the nation's financial fusebox, the early years of this decade represent the time when the electrical circuity of the financial system finally overloaded. Today virtually the entire structure of the nation's economic house has burst into flames, and there is no fireman in sight.
While the fusebox metaphor aptly describes the underlying cause of today's turmoil, it is also useful to follow the analogy to observe that once the house has caught fire, simply removing the penny (as desirable as that may be) will not by itself extinguish the fire. The financial press remains full of commentators who see prosperity returning "right around the corner" based on the belief that borrowing more money can restore the pre-crash state of affairs. This, however, is akin to trying to send more electrical current down the already-burnt and shorted wiring, and only makes the problem worse.
Decades of misallocation of resources caused by the penny in the interest rate fusebox, and by multiple other govenment-mandated distortions, have created non-productive monstrosities throughout the financial system. The craters being dug as those houses of cards fall around us will likely be larger, and occur more quickly, than most people now expect. The establishment failed to heed the warnings when the problem was manageable, and now that the flames are rising the chance that stampeding herd will turn to a more reasonable path appear dim indeed.
The immediate challenge facing every fan of Ayn Rand is first to preserve his or her own financial independence and safety so as to live to fight another day. After that, the task remains to educate those who can be reached that the failure we see around us is not the failure of freedom, but the failure to heed the warnings Ayn Rand articulated so many years ago. Today's firemen must equip themselves not with water hoses, but with the ideas of Ayn Rand. And they should learn from the example of Alan Greespan that those ideas,once adopted, cannot be abandoned without serious consequences.
|
|
| Permalink |
Trackback |
|
About the New South Objectivists
Objectivism is the philosophy of novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand. Miss Rand's most important statement of Objectivism is found in her famous novel Atlas Shrugged. The primary source for additional information about Ayn Rand is the Ayn Rand Institute, and their site dedicated to her books, AynRandNovels.com.
The New South Objectivists is composed of people interested in studying and promoting her work in the Southeastern United States.
The opinions expressed on this web site are those of the author of each article, and should not be taken as authoritative statements of Ayn Rand's own views. Although every effort is made to ensure that site content is consistent with the principles of Objectivism, our primary goal is to promote the study of Ayn Rand's work rather than limit the site to professional philosophers. As such it is to be expected (especially in blogs and comments) that opinions will be stated here on issues that are not settled even among life-long students of Objectivism. Any such opinions are the responsibility of the author of the statement -- not of Ayn Rand, and not of the administrators of this site. The reader is urged to study the original works of Ayn Rand and to refer all issues of interpretation to her published statements. We invite comment and discussion on whether the opinions stated here are consistent with the work of Ayn Rand, and the administrators reserve the right to remove any content that is incompatible with the purpose of this site.
For more information about the New South Objectivists, click here or contact us at: NewSouthObjectivists@charter.net
Legislative Research Links
In 2008 the NSO began discussion of a project to educate the community on principles of Objectivism by highlighting legislation at the state level and ranking the legislature according to Objectivist principles. Our home page for the development of this project is
South Carolina Research Links:
SC Bar Legislative Update The SC Bar Association's summary of important legislation.
SC Legislature Online The SC Legislature's official research starting page.
SC Hotline Columbia site modeled after a "Drudge Report" for state news.
|