Showing results for: “digital markets act”
The Best Way to Save Endangered Antelope: Allow Hunting on Private Preserves
There’s some good news on the endangered species front: Three species of endangered African antelopes — the Scimitar-Horned Oryx, Addax, and Dama Gazelle — are coming back with a vengeance. At least in Texas, where the population of the three antelope species quadrupled from 2004 to 2010, growing to a combined total of around 17,000. What’s the ... The Best Way to Save Endangered Antelope: Allow Hunting on Private Preserves
Nobel Watch
We’re now very close to the Nobel announcement which is expected Monday morning. Tyler Cowen favors Williamson and Tirole because they might want “to bring it down to earth and also they might wish to choose a Frenchman.” Peter Klein favors a prize for organizational economics and, I have a hunch, favors Williamson. French and ... Nobel Watch
Citigroup and federal fiduciary law
The SEC has reached another peculiar settlement, this time $75 million from Citigroup, plus fines against executives. As with the Goldman settlement, Citigroup didn’t admit fraud, or even, as in that case, a mistake. Citigroup was accused of misleading investors about its exposure to subprime. The bank knew it was exposed to the housing market, ... Citigroup and federal fiduciary law
Put-backs: How much are the banks worth?
BoA is trading around $11. Its book value is $21.45. The difference has a lot to do with whether investors in mortgage-backed securities will be able to get BoA (and other banks) to repurchase hundreds of billions of dollars of mortgage-backed securities because the bonds didn’t meet representations and warranties in the bond contracts. Here’s ... Put-backs: How much are the banks worth?
The shareholder wealth maximization myth
In a recent speech at the Netroots Nation, Senator Al Franken tried to frighten the crowd by trotting out the corporate bogeyman that greedily makes decisions without regard to anything other than profit. Franken told them: “it is literally malfeasance for a corporation not to do everything it legally can to maximize its profits.” Individuals ... The shareholder wealth maximization myth
More on Gupta-gate
I first addressed what I call “Gupta gate” a week ago in a post on “the SEC’s shrinking credibility.” There I noted: Guptagate is the SEC’s decision on March 1, the eve of its big Rajaratnam case, to file an administrative order against Rajat K. Gupta, former Goldman Sachs and P & G director, for ... More on Gupta-gate
More Evidence Against the Common Ownership Problem
I posted this originally on my own blog, but decided to cross-post here since Thom and I have been blogging on this topic. “The U.S. stock market is having another solid year. You wouldn’t know it by looking at the shares of companies that manage money.” That’s the lead from Charles Stein on Bloomberg’s Markets’ ... More Evidence Against the Common Ownership Problem
Privacy Cost-Benefit Analysis
As I mentioned in my previous post, there is a strong effort to regulate the use of information on the web in the name of “privacy.” The basic tradeoff that drives the web is that firms use information for advertising and other purposes,and in return consumers get lots of things free. Google alone offers about 40 free services, including the original ... Privacy Cost-Benefit Analysis
A Separate FTC Section 2 Report?
[UPDATE: I misread Kroes’ speech in a rush. As a loyal blog reader points out, Kroes was obviously referring to the European Commission’s release of its own report, not the Federal Trade Commission. Oops.]. I’ve discussed some problems with the FTC statement in response to DOJ’s release of the Section 2 Report. In particular, I criticized some ... A Separate FTC Section 2 Report?
Kevin McCabe on Behavioral Economics and the Law
Having started my career as an experimental economist I probably have a little different, but I hope complimentary, perspective on behavioral economics and other experimental programs in general. I view the difference between experimental and behavioral economics in terms of (1) what is studied, and (2) how it is studied. Experimental economists are interested in institutional and ... Kevin McCabe on Behavioral Economics and the Law
Politically-Mandated Credit Card Interchange Fees Won’t Create Jobs (But They Will Hurt Consumers and the Economy)
by Geoffrey A. Manne, Joshua D. Wright and Todd J. Zywicki Cross-posted at Business in the Beltway (at Forbes.com) and The Volokh Conspiracy. In a recent commentary at Forbes.com, former Clinton administration economist Robert Shapiro argues that some 250,000 jobs would be created, and consumers would save $27 billion annually, by reducing the interchange fee ... Politically-Mandated Credit Card Interchange Fees Won’t Create Jobs (But They Will Hurt Consumers and the Economy)
The Economics of Payment Cards: Six Lessons from the Literature
The proliferation of payment cards has dramatically changed the ways we shop and merchants sell goods and services. Today, payment cards are indispensable. Recent payment surveys also indicate that consumers are using payment cards instead of cash and checks. Some merchants have started to accept only card payments for safety and convenience reasons. For example, ... The Economics of Payment Cards: Six Lessons from the Literature
