Publications

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08 Oct 2012
Research & Ideas

The Immigrants Who Built America’s Financial System

As today's fiscal deficit and dragging economy continue to cast long shadows, it's easy to forget much darker times in American history. Shortly after winning its independence from Great Britain, the United States was bankrupt. Individual states weren't required to... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Financial Services; Banking

15 Jun 2010
First Look

First Look: June 15

identifying the effects of bank credit supply. First, we focus on firms' choice between two close forms of external financing: bank debt and public bonds. By conditioning the sample of firms raising new debt, we can rule out a demand... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Web

Africa - Global Activities 2020

GO: Africa Fellowship not only allows you to keep up with all the debt that comes with an MBA education, but also be a resource to your loved ones. Having funding available to do that and try to reach our North Star is extremely helpful.”... View Details

March 1999 (Revised June 2005)
Case

Saevig Corporation

By: Henry B. Reiling and Mark Pollard

The taxpayer purchased land and later transferred it to a family controlled corporation in return for an earn out. When funds were eventually received, the IRS treated them as dividends, whereas the individual and corporate taxpayers contended they were sums paid on... View Details

Keywords: Investment Return; Debt Securities; Taxation; Outcome or Result; Financial Reporting; Family Business; Assets; Business and Stakeholder Relations

January 2009 (Revised October 2011)
Case

Barack Obama and the Bush Tax Cuts (A)

By: Matthew C. Weinzierl and Eric D. Werker

As his inauguration approached, President-elect Obama faced a financial sector meltdown, a costly bailout, and massive government deficits. With the economy in recession, interest rates near zero, and joblessness on the rise, Obama needed to decide whether, and how... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Crisis; Borrowing and Debt; Financial Management; Policy; Government Administration; Taxation; United States

16 Feb 2016
First Look

February 16, 2016

https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/715440-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 714-031 U.S. Government Debt and the Debate over a Balanced Budget Amendment In the first decade of the 21st century, national View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

03 Jun 2021
Blog Post

HBS Pilots First Impact Investing Fund

DAF enables the fund to accept donations and disburse the capital in a number of different ways. As part of the diligence process, deal teams establish what type of capital would be most useful to the business, looking beyond traditional View Details

01 Jan 2007
News

Sir Martin S. Sorrell, MBA 1968

United States specializing in sales promotion, design, and direct marketing. But WPP wasn't small for long. In 1987 Sorrell made an astonishing move. Using both debt and equity, he bought one of the most famous names in the business, the... View Details

02 Feb 2010
First Look

First Look: Feb. 2

and Finance (forthcoming). (Also Harvard Business School Working Paper No. 05-053 and NBER Working Paper No. 13131.) Abstract The main arguments in favor of and against nominal and indexed debt are the incentive to default through... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

February 1991
Case

Burlington Northern: The ARES Decision (B)

By: Julie H. Hertenstein and Robert S. Kaplan

The ARES team formally proposes that Burlington Northern implement the ARES system. The project meets resistance. In light of financial restructuring and high level of debt, executives wonder whether the company can afford ARES. Weak links during the ARES development... View Details

Keywords: Accounting Audits; Restructuring; Cost vs Benefits; Decision Choices and Conditions; Borrowing and Debt; Capital Budgeting; Projects; Technology Adoption; Service Industry

January 2004 (Revised June 2004)
Case

Innovation at the Treasury: Treasury Inflation-Protection Securities (A)

By: Kenneth A. Froot, Peter A. Hecht and Christopher Edward James Payton

In 1997, the U.S. Treasury was deciding whether to proceed with a proposal to issue inflation-indexed bonds. This case explores the challenges facing innovation in the financial markets as the Treasury tries to determine whether to introduce Treasury... View Details

Keywords: Inflation; Innovation; Federal Government; Securities; Debt Securities; Risk Management; Bonds; Investment Portfolio; Capital Markets; Inflation and Deflation; Government and Politics; Innovation and Invention; United States

02 Feb 2012
Op-Ed

Once a Castle, Home is Now a Debtors’ Prison

very own debtors' prisons. Their task is Sisyphean: they work, pay the monthly debt to the lender, yet see a perpetual gap between payments and value. The payments can seem like an extortion episode from The Sopranos. Exit strategies are... View Details

Keywords: by Nicolas P. Retsinas; Financial Services; Construction; Real Estate

01 Dec 2015
News

Complements to the Case Method

productive,” says former student Nami Singhal (MBA 2013), now an associate at asset management firm AQR Capital Management. Singhal’s team made a bet that Argentina would default during its debt crisis; they were eventually proved right.... View Details

04 Nov 2014
News

Fundación México en Harvard Celebrates 25 Years

the significant debt that might have hindered his social entrepreneurship goals. The idea for the Fundación México en Harvard was born in 1989 after a small group of Mexican HBS graduates learned a single, dramatic statistic: half of the... View Details

Keywords: April White

April 1994 (Revised September 1994)
Case

KENETECH Corporation

By: William E. Fruhan Jr.

Involves a strategic decision about how fast to ramp up sales. Improvements in technology have driven down the cost of electric power generated from wind turbines to the point where they are competitive with fossil-fuel plants. KENETECH needs to raise equity capital to... View Details

Keywords: Renewable Energy; Borrowing and Debt; Equity; Initial Public Offering; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Going Public; Sales; Competition; Energy Industry