Broken Tax Promises
Remember this? How about this?: GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: You were against the individual mandate… PRESIDENT OBAMA: Yes. STEPHANOPOULOS: …during the campaign. Under this mandate, the government is forcing people to spend money, fining you if you don’t. How is that not a tax? OBAMA: Well, hold on a second, George. Here — here’s what’s happening. You ... Broken Tax Promises
Contemplating Disclosure-Based Insider Trading Regulation
TOTM friend Stephen Bainbridge is editing a new book on insider trading. He kindly invited me to contribute a chapter, which I’ve now posted to SSRN (download here). In the chapter, I consider whether a disclosure-based approach might be the best way to regulate insider trading. As law and economics scholars have long recognized, informed stock trading may create both harms and benefits ... Contemplating Disclosure-Based Insider Trading Regulation
Wise and Timely Counsel from John Taylor, F.A. Hayek, and Reagan’s Economic Advisers
In light of yesterday’s abysmal jobs report, yesterday’s Wall Street Journal op-ed by Stanford economist John B. Taylor (Rules for America’s Road to Recovery) is a must-read. Taylor begins by identifying what he believes is the key hindrance to economic recovery in the U.S.: In my view, unpredictable economic policy—massive fiscal “stimulus” and ballooning debt, the Federal ... Wise and Timely Counsel from John Taylor, F.A. Hayek, and Reagan’s Economic Advisers
My Professor, My Judge, and the Doctrine of Judicial Review
Imagine if you picked up your morning paper to read that one of your astronomy professors had publicly questioned whether the earth, in fact, revolves around the sun. Or suppose that one of your economics professors was quoted as saying that consumers would purchase more gasoline if the price would simply rise. Or maybe your ... My Professor, My Judge, and the Doctrine of Judicial Review
Potential Problems with an FDA Model for Regulating Financial Products
New York Times columnist Gretchen Morgenson is arguing for a “pre-clearance” approach to regulating new financial products: The Food and Drug Administration vets new drugs before they reach the market. But imagine if there were a Wall Street version of the F.D.A. — an agency that examined new financial instruments and ensured that they were safe and ... Potential Problems with an FDA Model for Regulating Financial Products
The Best Way to Save Endangered Antelope: Allow Hunting on Private Preserves
There’s some good news on the endangered species front: Three species of endangered African antelopes — the Scimitar-Horned Oryx, Addax, and Dama Gazelle — are coming back with a vengeance. At least in Texas, where the population of the three antelope species quadrupled from 2004 to 2010, growing to a combined total of around 17,000. What’s the ... The Best Way to Save Endangered Antelope: Allow Hunting on Private Preserves
Is Dental Care a Preventive Measure Health Insurers Must Cover? Let’s Hope Not.
I recently heard an ominous NPR story on the rise in trips to the emergency room by people seeking dental treatment. In 2009 alone, Tennessee’s emergency rooms had more than 55,000 dental-related visits — five times as many as for burns. Florida’s emergency rooms experienced over 115,000 ER visits for dental matters in 2010. Charges for those visits totaled $88 million. This ... Is Dental Care a Preventive Measure Health Insurers Must Cover? Let’s Hope Not.
Religious Liberty for Dummies
According to Senators Barbara Boxer, Jeanne Shaheen, and Patty Murray, the Catholic Church is the real bully in the fight over whether religious employers must include coverage for contraception in the insurance policies they offer their employees. In yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, the three responded to, in their words, the “aggressive and misleading campaign” against this ... Religious Liberty for Dummies
“Protecting” Consumers from the Truth About the Cost of Government
A new rule kicks in today requiring airlines to include all taxes and mandatory fees in their advertised fares. The rule, part of a broader “passengers’ bill of rights”-type regulation promulgated by the Department of Transportation, is being sold as a proconsumer mandate: It purportedly protects consumers from the sticker shock that results when they ... “Protecting” Consumers from the Truth About the Cost of Government
What if the Government Ordered the Human Rights Campaign to Cover Conversion Therapy for Gays?
A thought experiment: It’s late January 2016. Newt Gingrich is President. The House of Representatives is solidly Republican, and there’s a slight Republican majority in the Senate. Because Republicans lack a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare) remains on the books. (The reconciliation process, which allowed the law to be ... What if the Government Ordered the Human Rights Campaign to Cover Conversion Therapy for Gays?
A Decision-Theoretic Approach to Insider Trading Regulation
Regular readers will know that several of us TOTM bloggers are fans of the “decision-theoretic” approach to antitrust law. Such an approach, which Josh and Geoff often call an “error cost” approach, recognizes that antitrust liability rules may misfire in two directions: they may wrongly acquit harmful practices, and they may wrongly convict beneficial (or ... A Decision-Theoretic Approach to Insider Trading Regulation
AAI’s Antitrust Jury Instruction Project: A good idea in theory, but…
The American Antitrust Institute has announced plans to draft a comprehensive set of jury instructions for antitrust trials. According to AAI president Bert Foer: In Sherman Act Section 1 and Section 2 civil cases, judges tend to gravitate towards the ABA Model Instructions as the gold standard for impartial instructions. … The AAI believes the ABA model ... AAI’s Antitrust Jury Instruction Project: A good idea in theory, but…
