Showing archive for: “Economics”
Get Ready for that Twinkie Tax.
Arizona’s governor has proposed charging $50 to certain Medicaid beneficiaries who smoke or are obese. As today’s Wall Street Journal reports, the point of the surcharge is to internalize the externalities smokers and snackers impose on their fellow citizens, who bear much of the cost of their unhealthful choices: “If you want to smoke, go for it,” said Monica Coury, spokeswoman for Arizona’s Medicaid ... Get Ready for that Twinkie Tax.
Welcome to Net Neutrality
Recently, I’ve been blogging about the difference between so-called “bias” in vertically integrated economic relationships and consumer harm (e.g., here and here). The two are different. Indeed, vertical integration and contractual arrangements are generally pro-consumer and efficient. Many of the same arguments surrounded the net neutrality debate with critics largely skeptical that the legislation was ... Welcome to Net Neutrality
Google, Antitrust, and First Principles
I’ve read with interest over the last few days the commentary on Microsoft’s filing of a formal complaint with the EU, Microsoft’s defense of its actions, and the various stories around the web. Geoff and Paul appropriately focus on the error-cost concerns associated with intervention in high-tech markets; Paul also emphasizes the ironies associated with ... Google, Antitrust, and First Principles
Fretting over privacy
Gordon Crovitz, writing in today’s WSJ, notes that news that more than half of Americans over 12 have Facebook accounts powerfully suggests that people don’t care that much about “trading personal information for other benefits.” He asks, “why is Washington so focused on new privacy laws?” He’s referring, e.g., to the Obama administration’s call for ... Fretting over privacy
Search Bias and Antitrust
There is an antitrust debate brewing concerning Google and “search bias,” a term used to describe search engine results that preference the content of the search provider. For example, Google might list Google Maps prominently if one searches “maps” or Microsoft’s Bing might prominently place Microsoft affiliated content or products. Apparently both antitrust investigations and ... Search Bias and Antitrust
No Facts, No Problem?
There has been, as is to be expected, plenty of casual analysis of the AT&T / T-Mobile merger to go around. As I mentioned, I think there are a number of interesting issues to be resolved in an investigation with access to the facts necessary to conduct the appropriate analysis. Annie Lowery’s piece in Slate ... No Facts, No Problem?
Privacy Cost-Benefit Analysis
As I mentioned in my previous post, there is a strong effort to regulate the use of information on the web in the name of “privacy.” The basic tradeoff that drives the web is that firms use information for advertising and other purposes,and in return consumers get lots of things free. Google alone offers about 40 free services, including the original ... Privacy Cost-Benefit Analysis
Gans on Apple and Antitrust
Joshua Gans has an interesting post examining potential antitrust issues involving Apple, an issue we’ve discussed here and here. Gans focuses in on the two most relevant issues: There are two aspects that might raise antitrust concern: (i) Apple’s exclusivity-like requirement that no external payment links be permitted in apps and (ii) Apple’s most-favored customer ... Gans on Apple and Antitrust
Empirical Legal Scholarship, Empirical Legal Scholars, and the Quality of Legal Education: A Response to Professor Bainbridge
Professor Bainbridge isn’t fond of empirical legal scholarship; more significantly, he asserts that law professors trained to pursue it fundamentally undercut the purposes of legal academia. (His judgment on legal academics which moonlight as amateur statisticians remains to be seen.) Professor Bainbridge has for some time criticized empirical legal scholarship – but now he targets ... Empirical Legal Scholarship, Empirical Legal Scholars, and the Quality of Legal Education: A Response to Professor Bainbridge
Carl Shapiro to CEA
The WSJ reports that Carl Shapiro, deputy assistant attorney general for economics in the DOJ’s antitrust division, has been nominated by President Obama to his Council of Economic Advisers. Also worth noting is that Phil Weiser, also a former deputy assistant attorney general in the antitrust division, is now senior advisor for technology and innovation ... Carl Shapiro to CEA
Lawyers in Jeopardy
The WSJ reports: In a nationally televised competition, the Watson computer system built by International Business Machines Corp. handily defeated two former “Jeopardy” champions. * * * To emulate the human mind, and make it competitive on the TV quiz show, Watson was stuffed with millions of documents—including dictionaries, anthologies and the World Book Encyclopedia. ... Lawyers in Jeopardy
My blackberry’s not working and other extended puns
Having just discovered Kellogg economist Shane Greenstein’s blog, I have also now just discovered on his blog this super-hilarious video. Well worth a watch through to the end:
