Showing results for: “price gouging”
Explaining Enron to kids
The current edition of BusinessWeek has a humorous article (see here) on how to explain Enron to kids. Here’s an excerpt from one suggestion: Once upon a time in the land of Enron, there was a king named Ken — well, actually, he wasn’t a king, but he thought he was. He had a friend, ... Explaining Enron to kids
Alternative Fuels: Let Markets, Not Government, Decide.
It’s a strange day when the New York Times advocates corporate tax breaks. It’s an even stranger day when I dissent from that recommendation. Well, today must be a strange day indeed, for they did, and I must. The upshot of today’s editorial, Let Them Go Green, is that the federal government should “throw its ... Alternative Fuels: Let Markets, Not Government, Decide.
More on Wal-Mart and Organics
An article from yesterday’s W$J sheds some light on the organic community’s anger over Wal-Mart’s decision to begin selling organic products. A few weeks ago, I accused Wal-Mart’s critics of wanting to keep price-sensitive consumers out of the organic “club.� The article in yesterday’s Journal suggests that that’s part of the story, but that the ... More on Wal-Mart and Organics
Zion to register options tied to employee stock options.
Today’s W$J has an article about Zion Bancorp’s plan to register and sell to the public stock options that mimic the stock options it grants to its employees . It seems like another good example of the unintended consequences of disclosure regulation that Geoff has blogged about before (see here, here and here). Zion does ... Zion to register options tied to employee stock options.
Some Thoughts on Tradeable Gasoline Rights
Marty Feldstein has an interesting idea about how to reduce America’s oil consumption, but I’m not quite ready to sign on. In an op-ed in yesterday’s WSJ, Feldstein proposed a “cap and trade� system for gasoline. Under the proposed system, the government would set a limit on the amount of gasoline Americans could purchase annually ... Some Thoughts on Tradeable Gasoline Rights
Yahoo! CEO Joins $1 Club
In an SEC filing yesterday (see here), Yahoo! disclosed that the salary of Terry Semel, its CEO, will now be $1 per year (it had been $600,000). Hence, Semel joins Schmidt, Brin and Page of Google (see here) with a $1 salary. The big difference between Semel and the Google guys though is that in ... Yahoo! CEO Joins $1 Club
Buy or Die
AEI is hosting an event focusing on the problems of the nation’s shortage of vital organs. The website has links to the papers. The event agenda includes my friend and colleague Lloyd Cohen, who has done a good deal of work in this area (including this). Here’s the event description: The nation’s system for procuring ... Buy or Die
Vonage IPO woes continue.
The NYT is reporting today (see here) that approximately 10,000 Vonage customers participated in its directed share program for its recent IPO. Customers had until yesterday to pay for the shares. However, given that the stock has dropped from its IPO price $17.00 to $12.50, some customers are refusing to pay. Vonage indicated that it ... Vonage IPO woes continue.
Ribstein Responds: Lawyer Licensing Continued
In my first post on the economics of lawyer licensing (and in the comments) as well as my subsequent response to the Wilson/ Ribstein Point of Law discussion, I mentioned that this is an area where empirical evidence should add significantly to the debate since we have a good deal of variance in state restrictions ... Ribstein Responds: Lawyer Licensing Continued
Robinson-Patman Act Repealed!
Ok, not really. But the Antitrust Modernization Committee voted overwhelmingly in favor to repeal the Act (HT: Antitrust Review). Apparently, nine Commissioners voted in support of a the statement: “that Congress should repeal the Act in its entirety” on the grounds that: (1) the Act does not serve any purposes not already served by the ... Robinson-Patman Act Repealed!
Vonage IPO flop magnifies FWP snafu.
As you’ve probably heard, Vonage’s IPO was a flop. It closed down 12.6% from its IPO price of $17. This represented the weakest first day performance of an IPO in nearly two years. It also greatly magnifies the apparent technical violations of the Securities Act I blogged about yesterday (see here). As Voange disclosed in ... Vonage IPO flop magnifies FWP snafu.
Lawyer Licensing: Where's the Data?
Larry Ribstein and Jonathan Wilson are discussing the merits of lawyer licensing at Point of Law. I am especially interested in the discussion of whether lawyer licensing actually protects consumers of legal services from dishonest and incompetent lawyers. Wilson argues that removal of lawyer licensing may well result in lower prices for legal services, but ... Lawyer Licensing: Where's the Data?
