I subscribe to the FT and find it a terrific "out-of-the-box" journal with a European "take" on economic news generally.  For example, it gave a far more critical view of bankers' bonuses than did U.S. media.  The columnists are excellent and the weekend edition is filled with cultural news worldwide.
                      Bruce Fisher
 

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From: Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB) Talk on behalf of Michael O'Hara
Sent: Fri 1/1/2010 2:19 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: FT as classroom newspaper


ALSBTALK:

In various semesters in various courses I have used various newspapers as part of the required readings.  Most frequently I have used the Wall Street Journal.

It may be its new owner or it may be generic morphing of newspapers generally, but my perception of the relative quality of the WSJ is a perception of marked decline.  Both the percent of opinion pieces and the percent of entertainment pieces, to my eyes, have increased at the expense of the percent of original news.

I am considering using the Financial Times during Spring 2010 in my b-law-2 course.  At UNO b-law-1 is a core course and b-law-2 is a suggested elective.  B-law-1 covers constitutional law, contracts, torts, crimes, UCC-2, and consumer regulatory law.  B-law-2 covers property, UCC-3, UCC-4, UCC-9, bankruptcy, agency, partnerships, corporations, and has one of its three credit hours devoted to ethics.

Has any one used the Financial Times during 2009?  

Any opinions on whether the Financial Times will have an adequate flow of stories related to this b-law-2 course?

Yes, I know the Financial Times will be far more internationally focused than the Wall Street Journal.  That I can build upon.  My concern is whether that international focus coupled with the financial news focus will fail to offer enough stories sufficiently clearly connected to this b-law-2 course's topics that students would see FT as a waste of their very scarce dollars.  Yes, I understand that at the beginning of the semester all students everywhere always say "textbooks" cost too much; my concern is whether at the end of the semester using FT students are likely to have learned enough about learning that the same sentiment is materially smaller.

Michael

Professor Michael J. O'Hara, J.D., Ph.D.
Finance, Banking, & Law Department
College of Business Administration
Roskens Hall 502 
University of Nebraska at Omaha 
Omaha NE 68182 
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(402) 554 - 2823 voice fax (402) 554 - 2680
http://cba.unomaha.edu/faculty/mohara/web/ohara.htm