Showing results for: “digital markets act”
Is There Really Less Securities Fraud? And If So, Should We Thank the Feds?
Securities fraud class-actions are down. In an op-ed in yesterday’s WSJ, Joseph Grundfest observed that both the number of such actions and the dollar value of total damages claims have dropped dramatically since mid-2005. Why has this decline occurred? Grundfest considers several possible reasons. First, the decline might be due to the criminal prosecution of ... Is There Really Less Securities Fraud? And If So, Should We Thank the Feds?
Hazlett on the Madness of e-Crowds
This piece by my colleague Tom Hazlett is really the best thing I’ve read online all week and has been getting some attention across the blogosphere (see, e.g., here and here) and I’m happy to contribute by posting Hazlett’s characteristically powerful punchline: The point is not that “closed†beats “open,†but that capitalism accommodates both. ... Hazlett on the Madness of e-Crowds
Let Ethanol Fail
The recent State of the Union address, in which President Bush called for an almost 500% increase in alternative fuel consumption by 2017, once again turned the nation’s attention to the various elixirs that promise to make the U.S. “energy independent.” The closer we look, though, the less appealing the leading alternative fuel — ethanol ... Let Ethanol Fail
Rizzo and Whitman on Paternalist Slopes
Libertarian paternalism, behavioral law and economics, and “soft” paternalism are topics of discussion here on TOTM from time to time (see, e.g. here, here, and here). Two very good economists who think about these problems quite a bit, Mario Rizzo (NYU) and Glen Whitman (Agoraphilia, CSUN), have posted their paper “Paternalist Slopes.” I had the ... Rizzo and Whitman on Paternalist Slopes
Majority Voting Trial Balloon
One of the purported advantages of blogging is it allows a blogger to float a “trial balloon†relating to traditional scholarship he/she has in the works. Readers then comment on the balloon which leads to an improved piece. So here’s my trial balloon: I’ve been working on a piece about majority voting for the election ... Majority Voting Trial Balloon
Henry Manne and Corporate Democracy
On January 2, 2007, Dean Henry Manne published a column in the WSJ regarding corporate democracy. In this column, Manne takes a stab at shareholder voting and corporate democracy. Manne maintains that shareholder activists are deluding themselves with the phrase “corporate democracy” in that only the controlling s/h have and will ever have a true voice ... Henry Manne and Corporate Democracy
Happy Milton Friedman Day
From the Milton Friedman Day website: Dr. Milton Friedman was perhaps the most influential economist of the 20th Century, and the impact of his ideas will extend far into the future. To honor the man, January 29th is declared as Milton Friedman Day – a celebration of the economist’s positive impact on American life and ... Happy Milton Friedman Day
AMC Releases Tentative Recommendations
The tentative recommendations of the Antitrust Modernization Committee are out, and include Commissioner vote counts for various propositions. The recommendations largely take the form of propositions that the AMC Commissioners joined, did not join, or were undetermined. Here are a few that caught my eye on an initial read-through (note that 2-5 apply to merger ... AMC Releases Tentative Recommendations
"Loyal" Directors in Delaware
In November of 2006, the Delaware Supreme Court issued an opinion in Stone v. Ritter dealing with a director’s fiduciary duties in cases where the complaining plaintiff-shareholder is maintaing that her directors did not sufficiently monitor their corporate charge. (I refer to these “oversight” cases loosely as “asleep at the wheel” cases.) There has been ... "Loyal" Directors in Delaware
Consumer Reports: Car Seats Might Be Safe After All
Consumer Reports has recalled a study of rear-facing infant car seats that claimed that many seats failed crash tests using standards tougher than the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration’s. Apparently, NHSTA contacted Consumer Reports after reading the study and concluded that: “The organization’s data show its side-impact tests were actually conducted under conditions that would ... Consumer Reports: Car Seats Might Be Safe After All
Antitrust Superprecedent
Shubha Ghosh, of the Antitrust & Competition Policy Blog, is predicting that the Supreme Court will not overrule the 1911 Dr. Miles decision, which holds that “vertical minimum resale price maintenance” (i.e., a manufacturer’s imposition of minimum resale price for his goods) is per se illegal. Ghosh explains: [T]he grant of cert in Leegin is ... Antitrust Superprecedent
Becker and Posner on "Libertarian Paternalism"
Becker and Posner take on “libertarian paternalism” this week. The entries are both worth reading, especially for the parts where these co-bloggers disagree. Here are my favorite passages from each. First, Posner attempts to distinguish his previous defense of the NYC trans-fat ban from good old-fashioned paternalism: It might seem that the good could be ... Becker and Posner on "Libertarian Paternalism"
