The Archives

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

Showing results for:  “digital markets act”

The problem of the corporate tax

John Steele Gordon, writing in the WSJ, peels the corporate veil away from Warren Buffett’s tax situation: Warren Buffett recently claimed that he had paid only $6.9 million in taxes last year. But Berkshire Hathaway, of which Mr. Buffett owns 30%, paid $5.6 billion in corporate income taxes. Were Berkshire Hathaway a Subchapter S corporation ... The problem of the corporate tax

ABA Roundtable Discussion Tomorrow on the AT&T/T-Mobile Merger

As I have posted before, I was disappointed that the DOJ filed against AT&T in its bid to acquire T-Mobile.  The efficacious provision of mobile broadband service is a complicated business, but it has become even more so by government’s meddling.  Responses like this merger are both inevitable and essential.  And Sprint and Cellular South piling on doesn’t help ... ABA Roundtable Discussion Tomorrow on the AT&T/T-Mobile Merger

Small business, partnership law and software

Two partners form a business in 1995 for providing dial up internet service to rural Wisconsin.  Their relationship deteriorates and in 1999 one (Bushard) withdraws, writing a letter expressly dissolving the partnership.  (The letter presciently noted that “this is an optimal time for selling the business at maximum value.” Indeed, a firm had expressed a ... Small business, partnership law and software

Nobel Speculation: Armen Alchian, Harold Demsetz and Benjamin Klein Should Win the Prize in 2011

Its time to dust off (and slightly update) an old post for its annual republication around this time each year.   With the start of the school year comes another fall tradition here at TOTM: Nobel speculation. More specifically, every fall I yell from the rooftops that some combination of Armen Alchian, Harold Demsetz and Ben ... Nobel Speculation: Armen Alchian, Harold Demsetz and Benjamin Klein Should Win the Prize in 2011

Robert Crandall on It Is Time to Move Ahead with Deregulation

As we approach the end of this Symposium, I am struck by how much consensus exists on this subject. Of course, we are not conducting this exercise under the auspices of the ABA. Nevertheless, there is sufficient intellectual backing for a major push to begin the deregulation of legal services. Despite warnings that this is ... Robert Crandall on It Is Time to Move Ahead with Deregulation

James Cooper on Antitrust Treatment of Expansive Interpretations of Ethical Rules

Attorneys earn excess rents by maintaining barriers to entering the legal profession.  Legislation and regulation expanding the scope of work that only an attorney legally can perform is an obvious way in which attorneys attempt to expand or protect the market for their services.  The FTC has a long history of trying to convince state ... James Cooper on Antitrust Treatment of Expansive Interpretations of Ethical Rules

Nuno Garoupa on Reforming Legal Professions In East Asia

The traditional narrative is that Asian jurisdictions have fewer lawyers than in the West because they are much less litigious societies; they don’t need lawyers! Recent evidence has suggested the causation is probably reversed; there are not enough lawyers to provide services to all potential litigants. Legal markets in East Asia were largely kept closed ... Nuno Garoupa on Reforming Legal Professions In East Asia

Benjamin Barton on The Lawyer-Judge Bias

First, thanks to TOTM for organizing this symposium on a most timely and important topic.  As computers and technology have revolutionized every aspect of human endeavor it is a particularly critical time to ask ourselves why 21st century law schools closely resemble the law schools of the late-19th century and why in court litigation would ... Benjamin Barton on The Lawyer-Judge Bias

Nuno Garoupa on Reforming Legal Professions in Europe

The European Commission, in particular the Directorate-General for Competition, has shown interest in promoting competition in the market for legal services since the early 2000s. Some countries such as the United Kingdom have taken this matter seriously. After a long review process, the British government has recently implemented a new regulatory set-up for legal services ... Nuno Garoupa on Reforming Legal Professions in Europe

George Leef on If We Want Creative Destruction, Destroy Unauthorized Practice Prohibitions

I may have missed it, but a topic that I don’t think has come up in the discussion thus far is unauthorized practice of law prohibitions. If we want to allow the free market’s discovery process to work – finding new modes of delivering services that serve consumers better than the old ones – we ... George Leef on If We Want Creative Destruction, Destroy Unauthorized Practice Prohibitions

Dan Katz on Legal Informatics, Corporate Law Firm Ownership and 21st Century Legal Education

A recent article argues “65 percent of today’s elementary aged kids may end up doing work that hasn’t even yet been invented.”  This is a thought provoking number and it points to the disruptive nature of innovation and its impact on a variety of labor markets.  There is a portion of the downturn in legal ... Dan Katz on Legal Informatics, Corporate Law Firm Ownership and 21st Century Legal Education

Walter Olson on Reform Law Schools, Don’t Sue Them

I’ve expressed doubts previously as to whether the simple model of licensure as incumbent protection adequately explains why our legal system (like all others I know of) limits who can be a lawyer, and in particular who can litigate in others’ interest. But if there’s one sector of the legal system that’s genuinely ripe for ... Walter Olson on Reform Law Schools, Don’t Sue Them