Financial Planner or Financial Counselor: The Differences are Significant

The authors argue that financial counseling and financial planning are significantly different professional fields when examined from both a theoretical and an applied perspective. The authors distinguish between these two professions with respect to the types of client problems presented, the criteria clients use for self-evaluation, and the services provided. As a consequence the authors recommend that a similar distinction be made with regard to the education and training programs associated with these professions.     

Reisman's Net Consumption, Net Investment Theory of Aggregate Profit

Abstract . This paper presents the essentials of George Reisman's net consumption, net investment theory of aggregate profit as discussed in Capitalism: A Treatise on Economics. The paper then relates Reisman's ideas to those of Austrian School economists Ludwig von Mises and Murray Rothbard. Delimiting time preference to determining the rate of net consumption, the primary determinant of aggregate profit, Reisman argues that under an invariable money, a one‐time increase in the rate of saving is sufficient to stimulate an increase in the supply of capital goods indefinitely. Reisman thereby rejects the claim that capital accumulation causes a falling rate of profit.     

The Governance Effect of the Media's News Dissemination Role: Evidence from Insider Trading

We investigate whether the media plays a role in corporate governance by disseminating news. Using a comprehensive data set of corporate and insider news coverage for the 2001–2012 period, we show that the media reduces insiders’ future trading profits by disseminating news on prior insiders’ trades available from regulatory filings. We find support for three economic mechanisms underlying the disciplining effect of news dissemination: the reduction of information asymmetry, concerns regarding litigation risk, and the impact on insiders’ personal wealth and reputation. Our findings provide new insights into the real effect of news dissemination.     

A General Test for Compliance with Equal Credit Opportunity Standards

The basic objective of this study was to justify, develop, describe, apply and evaluate a statistical test for assessing the lending patterns of financial institutions for evidence of discrimination. Reduced to its essentials, the proposed test consists of a comparison of the discriminating ability of two alternative multivariate discriminant functions. One of these discriminant functions contains only generally accepted risk and return factors as discriminant variables, while the other is composed of the same risk and return factors plus a set of variables representing protected classes of loan applicants. An empirical application of the methodology in a mortgage lending setting led to the conclusion that protected classes of applicants such as minorities, women, and the elderly were afforded the same access to credit as their unprotected counterparts in the same risk categories.     

Skill Level and Recreation Conflict among Skiers and Snowboarders

This paper examines out-group and in-group normative beliefs about unacceptable behaviors (conflict) reported by skiers and snowboarders with varying skill levels. Individuals with greater skills in skiing and snowboarding were predicted to experience more conflict than those with less ability in the activity. Across all skill levels, skiers and snowboarders were hypothesized to report more out-group than in-group conflict. Data were obtained from surveys (n = 595) distributed at five ski resorts in Colorado. Skiers and snowboarders rated their skill level on a four-point scale (beginner, intermediate, advanced, or expert). Multiple item indices were created to measure observed unacceptable behaviors between skiers and snowboarders. Analyses supported both hypotheses. As perceived skill level increased, out-group and in-group conflict increased for both skiers and snowboarders. Within each skill level, skiers reported more unacceptable behaviors by snowboarders than with fellow skiers, and snowboarders also identified more out-group than in-group conflict.