Showing archive for: “Innovation & Entrepreneurship”
Impractical law schools
The WSJ reports today on how “some law schools are throwing out decades of tradition by replacing textbook courses with classes that teach more practical skills.” Examples from the article: IU’s courses on “project management” and “emotional intelligence;” NYLS’s courses in “negotiation, counseling and fact investigation;” W & L’s new third year curriculum replacing “lectures ... Impractical law schools
Manne on insider trading as compensation
Henry Manne has a new version of the arguments he’s been making for years for insider trading as an efficient compensation mechanism. It’s Entrepreneurship, Compensation, and the Corporation. Here’s the abstract: This paper revisits the concept of entrepreneurship, which is frequently neglected in mainstream economics, and discusses the importance of defining and isolating this concept ... Manne on insider trading as compensation
The global threat to US securities laws
Today’s WSJ reports on the US’s slide in stock listings, which explains the NYSE/Deutsche Borse move. It notes that U.S. stock listings are down by 43%, or by 3800, since 1997. Listings outside the U.S. have doubled. U.S. IPOs since 2000 are down 71% from the 1990s. IPOs by VC-backed startups are down from 90% ... The global threat to US securities laws
Keynes vs. Hayek, Round II
Another of Russ Roberts’ and John Papola’s brilliant “Keynes vs. Hayek” rap videos is now online. (If you missed the first one, it’s here.) Whereas the first video focused largely on monetary policy, this one looks mainly at fiscal policy. Both are truly masterful. I’m amazed that Roberts and Papola were able to incorporate so much of the substance ... Keynes vs. Hayek, Round II
Atlas Shrugged
Just saw Atlas Shrugged. Very good — better than I thought. Highly recommended.
Interior designers and lawyers
The WSJ and I have been discussing the myriad idiotic licensing laws that help strangle entrepreneurship in the US. Last up was cat groomers. Today it’s interior designers: Florida is one of only three states that require commercial interior designers to become licensed before they hang a single painting in an office building, school or ... Interior designers and lawyers
Closing the US securities markets
The WSJ reports that the SEC is considering raising the 500-shareholder limit on the number of holders of a class of securities a company can have before having to register that security with the Commission under Section 12(g) of the 1934 Act. The SEC reportedly is also considering relaxing the “general solicitation” restriction on private ... Closing the US securities markets
Type I errors in action, Google edition
Does anyone really still believe that the threat of antitrust enforcement doesn’t lead to undesirable caution on the part of potential defendants? Whatever you may think of the merits of the Google/ITA merger (and obviously I suspect the merits cut in favor of the merger), there can be no doubt that restraining Google’s (and other ... Type I errors in action, Google edition
Learning Groupon in law school
The March-April University of Chicago magazine discusses a class at Booth on online entrepreneurship co-taught by Groupon cofounders Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell. The article says each received law degrees [from Michigan] in 1993. Law school, Keywell says, “is one of the great mechanisms for understanding how to think critically about the world,” and essential ... Learning Groupon in law school
Markets are incremental; Obamacare is not
Watching Obamacare dissolve in a morass of legal challenges and waivers points out another benefit of markets. Markets proceed incrementally. The Internet has made a huge difference in all of our lives. But the process was gradual. It began with just a few academic users and then expanded as entrepreneurs figured out next steps. In 1990 no one ... Markets are incremental; Obamacare is not
Watch me discuss the future of the Internet and its regulation on Ideas in Action
Larry Downes (who, like me, is a senior fellow at TechFreedom and a contributor to the excellent book, The Next Digital Decade: Essays on the Future of the Internet) and I taped an episode of Jim Glassman’s talking head show, Ideas in Action, a couple months ago, and it is airing this week on PBS ... Watch me discuss the future of the Internet and its regulation on Ideas in Action
What happened to IPOs?
So Facebook finally had its public offering. But it didn’t look like your father’s IPO. Instead, Facebook sold $500 million in stock to one person. The stock will be held by a single special purpose vehicle so Facebook avoids going over the 500-investor-limit for avoiding the disclosure obligations of a public company. Wealthy investors get to ... What happened to IPOs?
