Klick on Libertarian Paternalism: The Dangers of Letting Someone Else Decide
Jonathan Klick (Penn) is next up in the Cato Unbound forum on libertarian paternalism featuring entries from Glen Whitman and Richard Thaler (and one from Shane Frederick coming). My initial reaction to Thaler’s response to Whitman was that it was far too dismissive, defensive, and a bit out of tone for my own liking, but ... Klick on Libertarian Paternalism: The Dangers of Letting Someone Else Decide
Blaming the D.C. Circuit for Regulatory Failure?
Washington Post columnist Steve Pearlstein offers a novel explanation for “regulatory failure.” The D.C. Circuit, has, Pearlstein asserts, “has intimidated, undermined and demoralized the regulatory apparatus” by giving insufficient deference to regulators and “opinions that routinely ignore the plain language of statute and the clear intent of Congress.” Pearlstein holds up three Republican appointees as ... Blaming the D.C. Circuit for Regulatory Failure?
The New Paternalism at Cato Unbound
The excellent lead essay is from Glen Whitman, with responses planned from Richard Thaler, Jonathan Klick and Shane Frederick. It should be a very interesting exchange. Here is, in my view, one of Whitman’s best paragraphs: Nevertheless, Sunstein and Thaler (in Nudge) respond to the slippery-slope argument by saying we should “make progress on those ... The New Paternalism at Cato Unbound
"The Chicago School of Economics, which is essentially what you learned in Economics 101 back in college"
That is the latest salvo from Commissioner Rosch in discussing Judge Easterbrook’s opinion in Jones v. Harris. I cant decide whether this strikes me as more offensive to the Chicago School of antitrust economics or to Judge Easterbrook. Probably the latter. UPDATE: Another line from the speech: “On Tuesday March 30th, in a 9-1 decision ... "The Chicago School of Economics, which is essentially what you learned in Economics 101 back in college"
The Economics of Celebrity Endorsements
Bob Greene (CNN) argues that celebrity endorsements are meaningless. Worse than that, according to Greene, celebrity endorsements necessarily amount to a raw deal for consumers: This is all elementary. If someone accepts cash in exchange for offering a positive evaluation of something, then the evaluation must be tossed out. It’s worse than meaningless. Yet in ... The Economics of Celebrity Endorsements
IP Colloquium: The First Sale Doctrine
For TOTM readers who might not know already, Professor Doug Lichtman (UCLA) has put together a great series of programs over at IP Colloquium. The IP Colloquium is an online audio program focused on patent and copyright issues where Professor Lichtman interviews guests from academia, business, and the judiciary to discuss current topics (archives available ... IP Colloquium: The First Sale Doctrine
"So when you listen to economists, you're listening to amateurs"
So says David Zaring over at the Conglomerate — at least when it comes to the topic of regulation. I don’t buy it. Anyway, here’s the complete quote for context: Economists love to suggest new regulatory structures (or, more often, why they will not work). But, of course, they have no training in regulation, and ... "So when you listen to economists, you're listening to amateurs"
"Like A Rain Dance That Produces No Clouds"
My colleague Tom Hazlett, along with George Bittlingmayer and Arthur Havenner, provides some economic wisdom on why they don’t call it stimulus anymore: Counter to the predictions put forward a year ago by the Administration, when it claimed that “more than 90 percent of the jobs created are likely to be in the private sector,” ... "Like A Rain Dance That Produces No Clouds"
Leegin Legislation Update
A Senate panel approved the Leegin Bill on a voice vote (HT: Main Justice). The story behind the link suggests that there is some Republican opposition brewing. I suspect there will be hearings. The Bill’s findings make the following two observations: (3) Many economic studies showed that the rule against resale price maintenance led to ... Leegin Legislation Update
Breaking Antitrust News: Imposing Duty to Promote Rivals Helps Rivals
From the AP: Norway’s Opera said Thursday that downloads of its browser more than doubled after Microsoft Corp. was forced to give European users a choice of Web software to settle European Union antitrust charges. Microsoft started sending updates to Windows computers in Europe in early March that launches a pop-up screen telling them to ... Breaking Antitrust News: Imposing Duty to Promote Rivals Helps Rivals
Coke, Pepsi, Product Promotion and the Efficiencies of Vertical Integration
The soda industry is trending toward vertical integration, which Coke and Pepsi acquiring their largest bottlers. From the WSJ: Coke and PepsiCo sell concentrate to bottlers, which then bottle and distribute the soft drinks in their territories. Many of these smaller bottlers are small businesses that have been run by family members for decades and ... Coke, Pepsi, Product Promotion and the Efficiencies of Vertical Integration
Are Friedman, Marx, Smith and Keynes Really Out of Hayek's League?
Justin Wolfers is one of my favorite economics bloggers in large part because of the empirical, evidence-based approach he takes to economics problems and policy issues. As co-blogger Todd points out, Wolfers recently generated some data (JSTOR citation counts) that he argues supports the assertion that Hayek is out-classed by those mentioned in the title ... Are Friedman, Marx, Smith and Keynes Really Out of Hayek's League?
