Scholarly commentary on law, economics, & more

Cartels With Benefits: The Trouble With Extending Labor’s Antitrust Exemption

Antitrust law’s usual instruction to competitors who agree on price is admirably brief: Don’t. Labor law makes a deliberate exception for employees who bargain collectively. Advocates now want that exception to cover at least some independent contractors, including rideshare drivers, truck owner-operators, consultants, and other small-business owners. The proposal may sound like a tidy way Cartels With Benefits: The Trouble With Extending Labor’s Antitrust Exemption

Google, the Unruh Act, and the Legal Risk of Knowing Your Audience

Advertising’s oldest rule is simple: Know your audience. In California, following it may get an online platform sued. Show retirement-home ads to seniors and student discounts to college students, and sensible targeting can suddenly look like unlawful discrimination. That question is now before California’s Sixth Appellate District. The dispute arises from a trial court ruling in Google, the Unruh Act, and the Legal Risk of Knowing Your Audience

The Data Center Chessboard Has No Pause Button

The whole country ostensibly wants America to win the artificial intelligence (AI) race. A striking number, however, would prefer someone else’s town to host the data centers, power plants, transmission lines, and cooling systems required to run it. Adam Smith knew the type. In “The Theory of Moral Sentiments,” he warned against the “man of The Data Center Chessboard Has No Pause Button

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