It's OK, Judge Rakoff

I was disappointed to see that Judge Rakoff's rejection of an SEC settlement was rejected by a higher court.  As indicated in an earlier posting (see "Fine and Dandy," January 25, 2014), I'm increasingly appalled that huge fines have become just another cost of doing business - and I've since learned that the fines are deductible for tax purposes, at least to a significant extent.  (Shouldn't that be part of tax reform, assuming we ever get there?)  I'm not commenting on the specifics of the case in question - I really don't have the facts - but it seems to me that a fine is meaningless (particularly if it's deductible) when there's zero moral or ethical opprobrium associated with it.  An admission of guilt, or at least some responsibility, won't change the world, but perhaps it might make a company's senior management think twice.  And that would be particularly true in the seemingly endless number of cases (e.g., GM) in which the wrongdoing is compounded by a cover-up.

So, Judge Rakoff, while I highly doubt that my vote of support matters much, I salute you and your common sense.  Of course, the odd thing about common sense is that it is so uncommon.

Lamm's LIterary Lyceum

This hasn't been a great year for reading.  Most of the stuff I've read has been more or less mediocre.  However, I very much enjoyed "The Invention of Wings" by Susan Monk Kidd.  It's based on a true story about two sisters from Charleston, SC, who became ardent abolitionists and proto-feminists.  It's very well written and engrossing, and not at all the chick-lit work that I feared it might be.

Prima La Musica (or Lammusica)

Some great new piano recordings:  First, a fantastic new rendering of Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 by Nikolai Lugansky, demonstrating that he's becoming a great pianists.  The recording also has the Grieg Piano Concerto - not as good, but still very good indeed.  Second, a brilliant new recording of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concertos 1 and 2 with Denis Matsuev and the Mariinsky Orchestra under the direction of Valery Gergiev; just terrific.  And some old(er) recordings that I finally got and/or got around to listening to: A recording of Verdi's Macbeth with the late Shirley Verrett, who is spectacular; Piero Cappuccilli is Macbeth and he's wonderful as well.  And a no-longer-available recording of a live performance of Berlioz's masterpiece, Les Troyens, recorded at the Met with James Levine presiding over a great orchestra, a blow-your-mind chorus, and a seriously phenomenal cast, including Ben Heppner, the late great Lorraine Hunt Lieberson as Dido and Deborah Voigt as Cassandra - La Voigt is not one of my favorites, but this may be her best recording ever.