George Will on My “Plausible Judgment” About the Future of the ACA
In his nationally syndicated column this week, Washington Post columnist George Will highlights what he termed my “plausible judgment” (I’m taking that as high praise!) that the Supreme Court’s Affordable Care Act decision “may have made the ACA unworkable, thereby putting it on a path to ultimate extinction.” Will focuses on the first of my three major points ... George Will on My “Plausible Judgment” About the Future of the ACA
Regulation Magazine Cover Article: “How the Supreme Court Doomed the ACA to Failure”
My recent essay, How the Supreme Court Doomed the ACA to Failure, is the cover article of the current issue of Regulation Magazine. I’ve been over the essay’s basic points several times (e.g., here, here, and here), so I won’t belabor them now. My basic assertions are: The Affordable Care Act (ACA) provisions mandating both “guaranteed issue” (insurers must sell to everyone) and ... Regulation Magazine Cover Article: “How the Supreme Court Doomed the ACA to Failure”
James M. Buchanan — 1919-2013
Yet another loss of a giant in the world of law and economics. On December 19, it was Robert Bork. Today, we lost economist James M. Buchanan, Nobel laureate, George Mason professor, and one of the fathers of Public Choice economics. Regular readers of TOTM will know that several of us–including yours truly–have been heavily influenced by the insights of Public ... James M. Buchanan — 1919-2013
Meese on Bork (and the AALS)
William & Mary’s Alan Meese has posted a terrific tribute to Robert Bork, who passed away this week. Most of the major obituaries, Alan observes, have largely ignored the key role Bork played in rationalizing antitrust, a body of law that veered sharply off course in the middle of the last century. Indeed, Bork began his 1978 ... Meese on Bork (and the AALS)
Dear DOJ: Take a Look at the Law Schools.
The U.S. Department of Justice sued eBay last week for agreeing not to poach employees from rival Intuit. According to the Department’s press release, “eBay’s agreement with Intuit hurt employees by lowering the salaries and benefits they might have received and deprived them of better job opportunities at the other company.” DOJ maintains that agreements among ... Dear DOJ: Take a Look at the Law Schools.
Do Your Low-Wage Employees a Favor: Drop Their Health Care Coverage
Another day, another (presumably) unintended consequence of the Affordable Care Act. (I say presumably because there’s a plausible theory out there that the Act was engineered to fail and thereby pave the way for a single-payer health care system. I’m not cynical enough to embrace that view, though a close look at the Act reveals design flaws so ... Do Your Low-Wage Employees a Favor: Drop Their Health Care Coverage
Why the Affordable Care Act, as Construed by the Supreme Court, Will Fail
I’ve recently posted to SSRN a new paper with the same name as this post. The paper asserts, in greater detail, a number of points I’ve previously made on TOTM: Health insurance premiums will rise under the (SCOTUS-modified) ACA, because the Act’s “guaranteed issue” and “community rating” mandates will generate widespread adverse selection that cannot be ... Why the Affordable Care Act, as Construed by the Supreme Court, Will Fail
Executive Compensation Symposium This Friday at Case Western’s Center for Business Law and Regulation
This coming Friday (Oct. 12), the Center for Business Law and Regulation at Case Western Law School will host what promises to be a terrific symposium on executive compensation. Presenters include TOTM alumnus Todd Henderson (Chicago Law), Jill Fisch (Penn Law), Jesse Fried (Harvard Law), David Walker (Boston U Law), David Larcker (Stanford Business), Stephen L. Brown (TIAA-CREF), Paul Hodgson ... Executive Compensation Symposium This Friday at Case Western’s Center for Business Law and Regulation
Have Elhauge and Wickelgren Undermined the Rule of Per Se Legality for Above-Cost Loyalty Discounts?
Einer Elhauge and Abraham Wickelgren, of Harvard and the University of Texas, respectively, have recently posted to SSRN a pair of provocative papers on loyalty discounts (price cuts conditioned on the buyer’s purchasing some amount, usually a percentage of its requirements, from the seller). Elhauge and Wickelgren take aim at the assertion by myself and ... Have Elhauge and Wickelgren Undermined the Rule of Per Se Legality for Above-Cost Loyalty Discounts?
Why Premium Subsidies and the “Employer Mandate” Won’t Solve the ACA’s Adverse Selection Problem
A couple of weeks ago, I argued that the Supreme Court’s decision upholding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act will ultimately doom the Act to failure. The problem, I argued, is that the ACA’s guaranteed issue and community rating provisions create a perverse incentive for young, healthy people not to buy insurance until they ... Why Premium Subsidies and the “Employer Mandate” Won’t Solve the ACA’s Adverse Selection Problem
Why Roberts’ Tax Reasoning Ultimately Damns the Affordable Care Act (But Not in a Good Way)
There’s great irony in Chief Justice Roberts’ reasoning in the recent Affordable Care Act ruling. In reading the ACA to impose a tax for failure to carry health insurance, thereby assuring the Act’s constitutionality, Justice Roberts also doomed the Act to failure. Let me explain. As the government repeatedly stressed, the individual mandate (now interpreted as a disjunctive order either to carry health insurance ... Why Roberts’ Tax Reasoning Ultimately Damns the Affordable Care Act (But Not in a Good Way)
WSJ Mistake on Holding of Health Care Ruling
Here’s a Letter to the Editor I sent to the Wall Street Journal today: Dear Editor: Today’s front page article, “GOP’s New Health-Law Front,” states that the Supreme Court’s Affordable Care Act ruling “circumvented the issue of whether the law was proper under Congress’s constitutional right to regulate commerce among the states.” That is incorrect. ... WSJ Mistake on Holding of Health Care Ruling
