The Archives

The collection of all scholarly commentary on law, economics, and more

Showing results for:  “digital markets act”

Collective Moral Hazard, Maturity Mismatch, and Systemic Bailouts

That’s the title of an interesting article by Emmanuel Farhi and Jean Tirole in the current issue of the  American Economic Review. Here’s the abstract (emphasis added): The article shows that time-consistent, imperfectly targeted support to distressed institutions makes private leverage choices strategic complements. When everyone engages in maturity mismatch, authorities have little choice but ... Collective Moral Hazard, Maturity Mismatch, and Systemic Bailouts

George Leef on Licensure in the Legal Profession

When Americans think about governmental regulations meant to protect them against harm, they are prone to making two mistakes in judgment: first, they tend to overestimate the benefits that are supposed to result from regulation (including mandatory licensing) and second, they tend to underestimate (and usually to completely overlook) the costs and problems created by ... George Leef on Licensure in the Legal Profession

2012 GMU Law & Economics Center Workshop on Empirical Methods for Law Professors

May 21-25 the GMU LEC will be hosting its Workshop on Empirical Methods for Law Professors once again this year.  Applications are available at the links below — and more information is available here. The Workshop on Empirical Methods for Law Professors is designed to teach law professors the conceptual and practical skills required to ... 2012 GMU Law & Economics Center Workshop on Empirical Methods for Law Professors

Little big law

According to AmLaw, citing unnamed sources, Howrey will vote this Wednesday on whether to dissolve. Given massive departures that the article says “have left Howrey a shadow of its former self” the conclusion would seem to be foregone. So now what?  Consider some of the questions: How much does the firm owe, and what does ... Little big law

Carl Shapiro to CEA

The WSJ reports that Carl Shapiro, deputy assistant attorney general for economics in the DOJ’s antitrust division, has been nominated by President Obama to his Council of Economic Advisers.  Also worth noting is that Phil Weiser, also a former deputy assistant attorney general in the antitrust division, is now senior advisor for technology and innovation ... Carl Shapiro to CEA

House Oversight Committee Hearing

 Here is my testimony before the House Oversight Committee hearing last week regarding implications of the government as a shareholder in TARP recipients, particularly Citigroup, AIG and GM.  It gave me a unique opportunity to continue discussing my Treasury Incorporated paper.  I certainly hope the members took notes, although I doubt it.  Nothing has been done since the last ... House Oversight Committee Hearing

The Supreme Court partially decriminalizes agency costs

In the Skilling-Black case, the Court struck down “honest services” wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. 1346 in the absence of bribery/kickback allegations and remanded for determinations whether the errors in applying the statute justify reversals. But the Court also held that adverse pretrial publicity and community prejudice did not prevent Skilling from obtaining a fair ... The Supreme Court partially decriminalizes agency costs

Brussels LLM in Competition Law and Economics

Nicolas Petit, who blogs at Chillin’ Competition and teaches at the University of Liege, has started an ambitious, new LLM in competition law and economics at something called the Brussels School of Competition.  It strikes me as interesting and helpful for being an academic law and economics program focused very clearly on practitioners and practical ... Brussels LLM in Competition Law and Economics

What I’m Watching Now

“The Future of Individual Tax Rates: Effects on Economic Growth and Distribution,” United States Senate Committee on Finance Hearing (HT: Taxprof Blog).  Scheduled witnesses include: Carol Markman (CPA, Feldman, Meinberg & Co.) David Marzahl (President, Center for Economic Progress) Donald Marron (Director, Tax Policy Center) Douglas Holtz-Eakin (President, American Action Forum) Leonard Burman (Professor, Maxwell School, Syracuse ... What I’m Watching Now

Tax

Judge Posner on Financial Reform and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Judge Posner offers his thoughts on financial reform, mostly negative, at Bloomberg.   The thrust of the essay is that the financial regulation produced by the political process has, at best, a poor nexus to the actual causes of the economic crisis, and that what we are left with is primary reorganization and reshuffling to look ... Judge Posner on Financial Reform and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

“I’m not going to praise the Leegin decision”

Compared to the nominations of Justices Alito, Roberts and Sotomayor, there has been little excitement for the antitrust community on the most recent Supreme Court nomination of Elena Kagan.  But there is something.   The WSJ Law Blog reports that while Kagan refused to “praise the Leegin decision.”   Legal Times reports that in response to Senator ... “I’m not going to praise the Leegin decision”

Antitrust at George Mason

Danny Sokol has posted the most downloaded antitrust law professors.  I come in 4th behind Damien Geradin, David Evans, and Herb Hovenkamp.   It is flattering to be in company like that by any measure.  Cool.  But, as Danny points out, what is even cooler is that George Mason is one of only a handful of ... Antitrust at George Mason