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MSM, Blogs, and George Mason’s “Other” Big News

TOTM It has been a fine month for George Mason University. The Final Four appearance has attracted a good deal of media attention and general buzz. . . .

It has been a fine month for George Mason University. The Final Four appearance has attracted a good deal of media attention and general buzz. This week, I received a record number of phone calls from friends about Mason (“No, I dont have any extra Final Four tickets.”). As great as this news is for the university community as a whole, GMU Law had an eventful March in its own right. For what it is worth, we moved up a few (4) spots in the US News Rankings to 37 (Brian Leiter thinks we are still underrated). But I want to write about what I found to be a very interesting series of events following reports that a GMU Law faculty member would be nominated to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.

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Intellectual Property & Licensing

DOJ Approves Whirlpool/Maytag Merger

TOTM The DOJ will not challenge Whirlpool’s (much-blogged-about) proposed acquisition of Maytag (HT: WSJ Law Blog). This Reuters blurb suggests that antitrust experts believe the decision . . .

The DOJ will not challenge Whirlpool’s (much-blogged-about) proposed acquisition of Maytag (HT: WSJ Law Blog). This Reuters blurb suggests that antitrust experts believe the decision “is a key test of the Justice Department’s new antitrust chief and could provide a glimpse of how tough he will be in reviewing mergers” (HT: Antitrust Review).

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Antitrust & Consumer Protection

Zaring on the ABA Consent Decree

TOTM David Zaring, guest blogging at Concurring Opinions, has some thoughts on the sunsetting of the ABA’s consent decree this June. David asked for my thoughts . . .

David Zaring, guest blogging at Concurring Opinions, has some thoughts on the sunsetting of the ABA’s consent decree this June. David asked for my thoughts on what this will mean for the market for legal education (also, I am quite flattered that Zaring describes me as a “prominent and businessey professor blogger,” but, I am a sucker for puffery) in exchange for the right to cross-post here at TOTM. My short answer to his question: probably not much.

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Antitrust & Consumer Protection

Nacchio’s Puzzling Insider Trading Defense, Part II

TOTM I’m really starting to worry about the lawyers for former Qwest CEO, Joseph Nacchio. (I first expressed concern here.) Mr. Nacchio has been charged with . . .

I’m really starting to worry about the lawyers for former Qwest CEO, Joseph Nacchio. (I first expressed concern here.) Mr. Nacchio has been charged with 42 counts of criminal insider trading. The charges are based on allegations that Mr. Nacchio learned, after Qwest had made some rosy public statements, that business wasn’t going as well as predicted, and he then sold $101 million worth of stock on the basis of that non-public information.

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Financial Regulation & Corporate Governance

Sen. Lugar’s New Grip on Reality

TOTM In a recent speech at the Brookings Institution, Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) bashed what he called “a laissez-faire energy policy that relies on market evolution.” . . .

In a recent speech at the Brookings Institution, Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) bashed what he called “a laissez-faire energy policy that relies on market evolution.” Under such a policy, he says, “life in America is going to be much more difficult in the coming decades.” He insists that “[w]hat is needed is an urgent national campaign led by a succession of presidents and Congresses who will ensure that American ingenuity and resources are fully committed to this problem.”

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Mandating Cost-Savings for Hospitals

TOTM It drives me nuts when the government attempts to justify rules mandating particular business practices on grounds that they reduce costs for the businesses being . . .

It drives me nuts when the government attempts to justify rules mandating particular business practices on grounds that they reduce costs for the businesses being regulated. My favorite recent example of this is OSHA’s ultimately repealed (thank goodness!) ergonomics standard. The agency sought to justify the extraordinarily intrusive rule on grounds that it would save employers $9.1 billion per year (after compliance costs) in reduced sickdays and workers’ compensation costs. Of course, the agency never bothered to explain why, in light of these cost-savings, the government needed to force compliance.

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“Let the Market Handle It”

TOTM Economists, free-marketeers, and law and econ types are often accused of invoking this phrase as a knee-jerk reaction to regulations of all shapes and sizes. . . .

Economists, free-marketeers, and law and econ types are often accused of invoking this phrase as a knee-jerk reaction to regulations of all shapes and sizes. The position is sometimes attacked as overly simplistic, based upon an unjustified faith in markets, or just plain lazy. On this score, Don Boudreaux (Cafe Hayek, GMU) has a must-read post on what it means to favor the market solutions to government solutions to various public policy problems.

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I look pretty young but I’m just backdated, yeah

TOTM The WSJ this weekend has a long piece on the issue of stock option backdating, “The Perfect Payday.” Here’s the tagline… Read the full piece . . .

The WSJ this weekend has a long piece on the issue of stock option backdating, “The Perfect Payday.” Here’s the tagline…

Read the full piece here.

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Financial Regulation & Corporate Governance

Globetrotters Update

TOTM Sports Law Blog’s Michael McCann updates our recent discussion (me: here and here; and Professor McCann here) of the Harlem Ambassadors’ complaint to the FTC . . .

Sports Law Blog’s Michael McCann updates our recent discussion (me: here and here; and Professor McCann here) of the Harlem Ambassadors’ complaint to the FTC regarding the Globetrotters’ use of exclusivity windows in sports arena leases. In response to our debate, the Harlem Ambassadors’ founder and president Dale Moss emailed us some very interesting comments.

Read the full piece here.

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Antitrust & Consumer Protection