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TOTM Representative Kucinich has announced that the House Oversight and Government Reform Domestic Policy Subcommittee will be launching an investigation into “a variety of marketplace issues . . .
Representative Kucinich has announced that the House Oversight and Government Reform Domestic Policy Subcommittee will be launching an investigation into “a variety of marketplace issues including monopolies in the grocery industry.” HT: AntitrustProf Blog. Hearings are apparently tentatively scheduled for mid-month. What is the committee looking for? Just about anything.
Read the full piece here.
TOTM 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 . . .
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.
TOTM 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 . . .
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…
TOTM 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 . . .
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 — appears to be.
TOTM I have had occasion to think about the relationship between property rights and barriers to entry lately, and was reminded of the following line which . . .
I have had occasion to think about the relationship between property rights and barriers to entry lately, and was reminded of the following line which I thought well worth posting on its own…
TOTM 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 . . .
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.”
TOTM 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 . . .
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 analysis).
TOTM Bill Henderson has a nice post on Chief Justice Roberts’ claim that judicial pay has reached the point of creating a “constitutional crisis.” Lots of . . .
Bill Henderson has a nice post on Chief Justice Roberts’ claim that judicial pay has reached the point of creating a “constitutional crisis.” Lots of bloggers (see, e.g., my colleague Ilya Somin at VC) have made the point that they are not impressed with the data the Chief has mustered in favor the assertion that the quality of the federal bench is likely to suffer as the gap between judicial pay and pay in private practice widens (or that a shift in composition of the federal bench towards fewer lawyers from private practice is a demonstrably bad thing, much less constitutional crisis). Most of this discussion has involved pointing out weaknesses in the Chief’s empirical evidence in support of his claim and some educated guesswork about the relevant elasticities of supply for high quality judicial candidates with respect to pay. Though I think it it is very difficult to say something meaningful about these elasticities without data.
TOTM The FTC announced this week perhaps its best decision since . . . well, ever. Read the full piece here.
The FTC announced this week perhaps its best decision since . . . well, ever.