In Print and On the Air
New Year's resolutions "are good intentions that rarely have much impact because they're too general and too distant," ALBERT BANDURA, the David Starr Jordan Professor, was quoted as saying in the Jan. 3 issue of the Washington Post. The Post reported that nearly half of all adults start the New Year by making resolutions, with weight loss at the top of the list. Rather than creating an arbitrary goal—such as resolving to lose 10 pounds—Bandura said it is more effective to change habits slowly. "In successful self-change, you have to break these distant goals into small steps," he said. In 1977, Bandura introduced the psychological concept of self-efficacy to describe how much someone believes he or she can succeed in making a habit change. "Unless people believe they can succeed, they have little incentive to act or persevere when faced with difficulties," he said.
The Wall Street Journal reported Jan. 3 that the number of securities-fraud class-action suits filed in 2005 dropped to 176 from 213 in 2004, according to Stanford Law School's Securities Class Action Clearinghouse and Cornerstone Research, a financial-analysis firm in Boston. The 2005 filing rate was nearly 10 percent below the 1996-2004 average of 195 and could suggest that recent shareholder-protection laws, such as the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Law, are working. The report also found that alleged investor losses, calculated by the reduction in a company's market capitalization at the time of the fraud's disclosure, fell 33 percent to $99 billion from $147 billion in 2004. While these findings are a positive development for American businesses, "It's too soon to break open the champagne," said clearinghouse director JOSEPH GRUNDFEST, the W. A. Franke Professor of Law and Business. He is a former member of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Grundfest said the numbers are an early sign that corporate-governance reforms may be working but don't yet prove it. "We'll need another at least two years of experience before I think we'll be able to have any firm views," he said.
On Jan. 9, Time magazine reported on the resurgence of leftist, and often anti-U.S., candidates in Latin America. Of nine presidential races slated for the region this year, leftists could win at last five. These include the two most populous countries, Brazil and Mexico, as well as coca producers Peru and Ecuador. Although the region has enjoyed more democracy and respect for human rights, analysts say this has been accompanied by increased inequality and higher unemployment. Popular blame for this is directed at what many in Latin America think of as the sponsor of globalization: the United States. TERRY KARL, the Gildred Professor in Latin American Studies, said, "I've not seen anything quite like this sudden loss of face. The U.S. just isn't setting the agenda anymore in Latin America."