Harvard Halfwits Lose Milk Money

Dateline Boston...

I always wanted to use "Harvard Halfwits" in a title.

Harvard's administration is too stupid to handle their cash. Their mommy needs to give them their milk money each day,or they'll lose it and go hungry.

In a nutshell, the business geniuses (from guess what business school) in Harvard's administration lost most of their operating funds (the money used to pay current bills) by betting it on hedge funds and credit swaps.

Harvards bumkin-like stupidity appears to be rare among university administrators. For example, Boston.com quotes a Stanford University Spokesperson on the subjexct:

"At Stanford University, which has experienced a similar decline in its endowment and also undertaken layoffs, spokeswoman Lisa Lapin said it would be highly unusual for the California school to put funds from its general account into long-term investments.

“We wouldn’t take a cash account and invest it with the endowment,’’ Lapin said."

It's plain to see even P.R. flack at Stanford understands corporate finance better than harvars's CFO and treasurer.

But folks,before we cast asparagus at Harvards bumbling financial administrators, let's hear what they have to say, aghain quoted from Boston.com:

"In a statement yesterday, Harvard treasurer James F. Rothenberg said the fault for the losses doesn’t “sit with a single individual: the corporation plays a role, the university’s financial team, including the CFO, play a role, and I play a role as treasurer."

As Harvard's treasurer clearly states above, there is no single chowderhead responsible, He claims he is a chowderhead, his associates are chowderheads, and, in fact the corporation (i.e., Harvard) is a simmering cauldron of chowderheads (in so many words). I always suspected that.

That's my story,and I'm sticking to it.