Showing results for: “FTC policy statement unfair methods of competition”
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
Hazlett on the Analog Switchoff
Here is my colleague Tom Hazlett in the Financial Times on the silent death of analog broadcasts for a significant fraction of TV stations: Some 420 TV stations pulled the plug last week, joining another 200 analog stations that had already signed off. What was supposed to cause outrage and panic among TV viewers proved ... Hazlett on the Analog Switchoff
A Christmas story
The best gift I got this Christmas – other than my collection of DVDs about the Pittsburgh Steelers six Super Bowl titles – was the chance to overhear a story that beautifully captures what I think is the biggest obstacle to sensible policy making at all levels. I was at a party, attired in snowman ... A Christmas story
Wanna Keep This Economic Mess to a Minimum? Honor Contracts.
New York Times business columnist Joe Nocera insists that current economic conditions call for courts to ignore carefully negotiated contracts between sophisticated business entities. Arguing that Dow Chemical Company should be free to walk away from its agreement to buy specialty chemical manufacturer Rohm & Haas, Mr. Nocera contends that “maybe, just maybe, deals that ... Wanna Keep This Economic Mess to a Minimum? Honor Contracts.
Becker and Murphy on the Stimulus
I’ve got the over-under on Krugman name-calling directed at both set at noon EST tomorrow. Any takers? Anyway, here’s some key excerpts from the WSJ piece: In a full-employment situation, increased government spending would largely replace private spending, so the net stimulus to GDP would likely be quite small. In the present environment, however, with ... Becker and Murphy on the Stimulus
Drawing lines
One of the first things law students learn is that law is mostly about drawing lines between acceptable and unacceptable conduct. Some lines are easy to draw: murder is out; giving money to charitable causes is in. But even in these cases, there are definitional and moral puzzles at the boundaries. When is taking a ... Drawing lines
Mad Men returns
I’ve described Mad Men as a wonderful illustration of my theory about how business is portrayed in film (here it’s television, but much of the theory still holds): [A]rtists are inclined to view business as not just different from but antithetical to what they do. Artists (at least modern artists) are into self-expression. In other ... Mad Men returns
Lessons from Cambodia
This is a little off-topic, but it’s something I gotta say. Last month I visited Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh and came away deeply impressed with the importance of confronting the consequences of abandoning civilians to ruthless and lawless regimes. The linked website has a picture of a sign at the school converted ... Lessons from Cambodia
A Book That “Underpromsises and Overdelivers”
So says Professor Zagros Madjd-Sadjadi (Winston-Salem State University) about the volume on Pioneers of Law and Economics (which I edited along with my colleague Lloyd Cohen, and to which I contributed a chapter on the contributions of Ben Klein to law and economics). The full book review, appearing in the American Review of Policy Economy, ... A Book That “Underpromsises and Overdelivers”
Coase and the 800 Pound Man
Ronald Coase has been on my mind quite a bit lately. His ideas have made a couple of recent appearances in my business organizations class. As I’ve explained before, we spend the first day of Bus Orgs contrasting F.A. Hayek’s The Use of Knowledge in Society, which argues that central planning is destined to fail because planners cannot gather ... Coase and the 800 Pound Man
Following the sun, or not
From Nick Rowe (HT MR) (see also): [L]et T be the time everybody else chooses, and let S be the time the sun chooses. So my reaction function is t = R(T,S). Assume that dR/dT>0, dR/dS>0, and dR/dT+dR/dS=1. What this means is that if everybody else gets up one hour later, I will get up (say) ... Following the sun, or not
"We're Kinda Worried About the Monopoly Thing"
That’s from Firefox chief software architect Mike Connor in an interview with PCPro. Here’s an excerpt suggesting that Mozilla fears that its recent success might lead to antitrust liability in the United States or elsewhere: Firefox has only just tipped past the 20% mark in worldwide browser market share, and is still a long way ... "We're Kinda Worried About the Monopoly Thing"
