Friday Quick Hits

By Steve Poftak
October 3rd, 2008

- And then there was one? I noticed this yesterday and Ross Kerber mentions it briefly today. By my count, the last two Fleet-BankBoston alumni still standing at B of A were Anne Finucane and Brian Moynihan. Moynihan being notable as one of the few Fleet employees to relocate after the merger. It can’t be good news that John Thain is essentially replacing him.

- Anyone else worried about this? The Commonwealth announced a plan to buy tracks from CSX (which is a good idea) and even gave the LG a nice Worcester-oriented press rollout for it. But buried at the end of the Globe story is a sidebar that worries me. The ongoing sticking point for the deal has been CSX’s insistence that they be absolved of any liability associated with the tracks. That issue has not been resolved, both parties have basically just agreed not to talk about it until later. But doesn’t the resolution of that issue (and I take no position on what it should be) affect the value of the deal?

- Don’t we have to spend billions on transit for the biotech sector? Maybe not.

- Is there a better story in sports right now than Cluj-Napoca? I knew you’d agree.

- A raised eyebrow (or should that be a tip of the pen) to the Donahue Institute for taking in a cool $250k in quasi-public and industry funds to produce a 25 page report (well, 14 pages of substantive text) on the workforce development needs of the life sciences industry. An interesting early project for the Mass Life Sciences Center and hopefully not a harbinger of their fiscal management prowess, given their $1 billion warchest.

- Interesting to note that the FDIC-backed purchase of Wachovia’s banking operations by Citigroup has been superceded by a no-government-involvement merger offer by Wells Fargo. This is a good outcome and leads me to wonder how many purchasers are staying on the sidelines until the full extent of government intervention becomes clear.

- Tired of government waste and inefficiency? Be glad you don’t live in New York. Where the Long Island Railroad’s retirees have claimed disability at rates in excess of 90%, far above any other railroad and costing taxpayers millions. Where Congressman Rangel (chair of House Ways & Means and writer of tax legislation) has four, count’em four rent-controlled apartments and has skipped paying income taxes on his vacation villa (he helpfully complains that every time he asks about the finances, the folks on the other end of the line start “speaking Spanish”). Where Assembly Speaker Silver flys first-class (at taxpayer expense, connecting through Washington) to get from New York City to Albany.