On disclosure: Shame?
Daniel Akst in the NYT has an interesting piece on executive compensation and disclosure (HT: Tyler Cowen). He calls for more shame — more reliance on norms to manage intractable agency problems: Although more disclosure and pay-for-performance requirements won’t dampen runaway C.E.O. compensation, both are useful for illustrating a larger lesson: that it’s naïve to ... On disclosure: Shame?
Universities redux: The anti-market folks begin to crow
Last week I made a few observations and asked a few questions about higher education in the wake of the Summers fiasco (which I dubbed l’Affair Étés, but apparently no one thought that was nearly as clever as I did). Over at Prawfsblawg, guest blogger Jonathan Zittrain takes NYT columnist John Tierney (for my money, ... Universities redux: The anti-market folks begin to crow
Hanno Kaiser's antitrust primer
While we’re on the topic of antitrust, I thought I would take this opportunity to draw our readers’ attention to a nice series of posts over at Antitrust Review. Collectively these posts make up the beginnings of an excellent primer on antitrust economics, told in Hanno Kaiser’s inimitable manner. I don’t agree with all of ... Hanno Kaiser's antitrust primer
Good antitrust news from the Court
To almost no one’s surprise, the Court ruled today (unanimously) in Texaco v Dagher that a pricing agreement between Shell and Texaco which was part of a lawful joint venure is not per se illegal under the Sherman Act. See this Reuter’s story here (HT: Bill). The key grafs: Justice Clarence Thomas concluded in the ... Good antitrust news from the Court
The Ethicist strikes again
One of my students brought to my attention this pearl of wisdom from (what appears to be this week’s forthcoming) The Ethicist column in the NYT: I am a 13-year-old boy. My school has a monthly pizza sale. Parents buy pies from a pizzeria and sell them to us for $1 a slice. I bought ... The Ethicist strikes again
Whose university is it?
There’s been some recent (and widely disparate) posting on the nature and governance of universities. See, for example, here (Tsai on sports and higher ed), here (Oesterle on endowment spending), here (Bollier on the knowledge commons; see especially comments by me and Josh in the . . . comments section (duh)), here (Posner on tenure), ... Whose university is it?
Measure 37 Upheld
You may or may not know that Oregon’s Measure 37 — our anti-takings measure — was ruled unconstitutional last year by a state trial court. See this post by Todd Zywicki. But today the Oregon Supreme Court reversed, and handed the effort to quash Measure 37 a resounding defeat. The court’s holding, on each of ... Measure 37 Upheld
On disclosure: Hands-tying
Dale Oesterle has called Gretchen Morgenson a “national treasure.” Today Larry Ribstein exposes the treasure for fool’s gold. I’m with Larry on this one. Morgenson’s article on executive compensation is yellow journalism at its worst (well, at least a far as business journalism goes. And really — what else is there?). As Larry suggests, hatchet ... On disclosure: Hands-tying
Donaldson & Pitt & Levitt & Breeden (Oh my!)
The Council on Foreign Relations puts on some really impressive webcasts/conference calls. Here’s one TOTM readers may be especially interested in (if, that is, you’re one of those lucky people who doesn’t get hives listening to extended bouts of highly-politicized self rationalization): The SEC in a Globalizing Securities Market: A Conversation with the Past Four ... Donaldson & Pitt & Levitt & Breeden (Oh my!)
A break in the invisible hand
It seems that I have broken my hand. Blogging will suffer (or improve, depending on your point of view). I know my co-bloggers will continue to provide the sort of top-notch commentary you’ve come to expect from TOTM, and I will strive to peck out a couple of posts over the next few weeks.
Making markets seem thicker
The Internet (read: inexpensive information dissemination) comes to the notoriously informationally-challenged housing market. The WSJ reports on a new website, zillow.com, which, as the WSJ says, uses data such as tax records, sales history and the actual prices of “comparables” — homes in your area that are similar to yours — to come up with ... Making markets seem thicker
