Showing archive for: “News & Social Media”
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?
Fed should stay out of Google/Twitter social search spat
As has become customary with just about every new product announcement by Google these days, the company’s introduction on Tuesday of its new “Search, plus Your World” (SPYW) program, which aims to incorporate a user’s Google+ content into her organic search results, has met with cries of antitrust foul play. All the usual blustering and ... Fed should stay out of Google/Twitter social search spat
The NYT on law teaching
The NYT brings another David Segal story on legal education. Today’s sermon: law schools don’t teach “lawyering.” Boiling away the overheated journalism, here’s the indictment: Law profs are richly paid for writing mostly useless law review articles rather than “the essential how-tos of daily practice.” Students study cases about contract law but not contracts. Clinics ... The NYT on law teaching
Debunking the New York Times Editorial on Wireless Competition
Yesterday, the editorial page of the New York Times opined that wireless consumers needed “more protection” than that afforded by voluntary agreements by the carriers and existing regulation. The essay pointed to the “troublesome pricing practices that have flourished” in the industry, including Verizon’s alleged billing errors, as the basis for stepped up enforcement. As ... Debunking the New York Times Editorial on Wireless Competition
FDA Medical Device Approval
The New York Times today has an article on approval of medical devices. The take is that venture capitalists want a more efficient process. The tradeoff mentioned is between faster approval for investor returns versus safety of devices if they are approved faster. There is no mention in the article of the benefits to patients ... FDA Medical Device Approval
New York Taxis
The New York Times reports that the most recent price for a taxi in New York medallion is $1,000,000. Wikipedia reports that there are 13,237 licensed cabs in New York. (A “medallion” is the physical form of a taxicab license.) This means that the present value of the rents created by limiting taxicabs is $13,237,000,000 ... New York Taxis
Global Warming
I think the discussion of global warming has been seriously remiss. Those opposed to massive cuts in economic activity through programs such as “cap and trade” have argued that global warming is not real. But whether or not it is real, the debate should be refocused. First, there are possibilities for cheaper methods of limiting ... Global Warming
ACS Blog Debate on Google: Putting Consumer Welfare First in Antitrust Analysis of Google
[I am participating in an online “debate” at the American Constitution Society with Professor Ben Edelman. The debate consists of an opening statement and concluding responses to be posted later in the week. Professor Edelman’s opening statement is here. I am cross-posting my opening statement here at TOTM. This is my closing statement] Professor Edelman’s ... ACS Blog Debate on Google: Putting Consumer Welfare First in Antitrust Analysis of Google
Illinois Corporate Colloquium: Choi on SEC backdating investigations
Yesterday at the Illinois Corporate Colloquium Steve Choi presented his paper (with Pritchard and Weichman), Scandal Enforcement at the SEC: Salience and the Arc of the Option Backdating Investigations. Here’s the abstract: We study the impact of scandal-driven media scrutiny on the SEC’s allocation of enforcement resources. We focus on the SEC’s investigations of option ... Illinois Corporate Colloquium: Choi on SEC backdating investigations
Dear Michael Pollan: When It Comes to GM Food, the Problem is Regulation, Not Its Absence.
Before concluding that “there ought to be a law” to remedy an unhappy situation, one should ask whether it’s really a law that’s causing the problem in the first place. I was reminded of that principle this afternoon when I read some remarks by Michael Pollan, doyen of the “slow food” movement, in today’s New ... Dear Michael Pollan: When It Comes to GM Food, the Problem is Regulation, Not Its Absence.
Renee Newman Knake on Corporations, the Delivery of Legal Services, and the First Amendment Part I
Last month the New York Times ran an editorial with the headline “Addressing the Justice Gap,” observing that “the poor need representation and thousands of law graduates need work.” The piece proposed several solutions, but notably absent was the reform most likely to deliver legal services to those in need and to create jobs for ... Renee Newman Knake on Corporations, the Delivery of Legal Services, and the First Amendment Part I
Coding legal arguments
The NYT writes about computerized journalism: The company’s (Narrative Science) software takes data, like that from sports statistics, company financial reports and housing starts and sales, and turns it into articles. * * * The Big Ten Network, a joint venture of the Big Ten Conference and Fox Networks, began using the technology in the ... Coding legal arguments
