according to the publisher’s his publicist’s website [and confirmed by a search on Google books.] The proud individual in question would be Gilad Atzmon, who has remarked I’m not only a self-hating Jew, I’m a proud self-hating Jew! When you try to think of the biggest humanists ever, Spinoza Marx [sic: Marx was born and […]
Author Archive | David Bernstein
Bleg for News We Can Use re the Euro
What’s the best way to short the Euro? There are a couple of “ultra-short” funds, but my recollection is that the way these funds are structured they are best for very short-term trading, not for a long-term short.
N.Y. Magazine on Obama and Israel
This is an interesting piece defending the Obama Administration’s record on Israel. For what it’s worth, I don’t think Obama is “anti-Israel.” But I think the NY Mag piece misses some significant elements of the puzzle. Obama made it clear during the 2008 campaign that he was anti-Likud. Likud happened to be the Israeli party […]
Ignoring the Text of Federal Rule of Evidence 702
I’ve noted before that many federal courts simply ignore the text of Federal Rule of Evidence 702 in favor of their own formulations, sometimes relying on cases that were decided before Rule 702 was amended in 2000, and that conflict with the amended rule. I just came across a good example. On September 7th, the […]
Media Matters and Lochner
When we last encountered the Media Matters blog, its authors reacted to a George Will column on Rehabiltating Lochner by declaring that Lochner v. New York is “in no way a liberal bogeyman.” Today, reacting to a blog post of mine suggesting that the idea that federal power does not constitutionally extend to broad child […]
Federal Child Labor Laws and the Constitution
Center for American Progress: Nearly 100 years ago, the Supreme Court declared federal child labor laws unconstitutional in a case called Hammer v. Dagenhart. Twenty-two years later, the Court recognized that Hammer’s holding was “novel when made and unsupported by any provision of the Constitution,” and unanimously overruled this erroneous decision. Sen. Lee, however, believes […]
Greek Debt Crisis
This is well outside of my area of expertise, but… Greece has a debt of approximately 330 billion Euro. What if the rest of the EU did the following: (a) agree to assume Greece’s debt in exchange for Greece’s agreement to pay, say, 80% back to the EU; (b) kick Greece out of the Eurozone? […]
Reason Reviews Rehabilitating Lochner
Here’s a taste of Damon Root’s review: Drawing on both previous legal scholarship and his own extensive historical research, Bernstein offers a definitive account of this misunderstood and unjustly maligned case. Not only did Lochner represent the victory of small-scale producers over large, politically connected special interests, Bernstein points out, but the ruling led directly […]
I Wonder How the Pro-Pal Activists Who Accuse Israel of “Apartheid” will React to This?
Ha’aretz: The future independent Palestinian state will not include a Jewish minority, a top Palestinian official told USA Today on Wednesday, adding that it was in the best interest of both peoples to “be separated.” I think we all know the answer, which is that it will (a) have no effect on their political views […]
Irony?
Star: Professor at his first lecture of the semester to Canadian university students: “Despite what you may have heard elsewhere, everyone is not entitled to their opinion. ‘All Jews should be sterilized’ would be an example of an unacceptable and dangerous opinion.” Student misunderstands, and launches attack on professor for being anti-Semitic. When the context […]
Advice to Faculty Candidates: Be Wary of Advice from Your References
A wildly disproportionate percentage of law school faculty graduate from a very few top law schools, especially Harvard and Yale. Not surprisingly, graduates of these schools turn to their mentors and references for advice on how to navigate the teaching market. Some of these professors give sound advice. But the very fact that these folks […]
Amusing Comment on George Will’s Rehabilitating Lochner Column
From the comments section of a blog called “Crooks and Liars”: “Oh, and by the way, not only is Will immoral, he is also a f*cking idiot: the Contract Clause at issue in Lochner is found in Article 1, Section 10, Clause 1 of the Constitution, not in the Ninth Amendment you dimwit.” [In fact, […]
Liberal Reactions to George Will’s Lochner Column
I’ve been perusing the blogs to see how folks are reacting to Will’s column on Rehabilitating Lochner, which I blogged about yesterday. Many liberal commentators and blog commenters are taking the position that Will’s defense of Lochner is obtuse because restoring liberty of contract would take the U.S. back to the labor conditions of a […]
Brian Leiter on Freud Again
I foolishly managed to once again entangle myself in a debate with Brian Leiter. There is at least one good reason not to try to engage in a reasoned blog debate with Leiter, which is that he doesn’t believe in it: I am sometimes presented with the following criticism: “Your rhetorical style won’t persuade anyone […]
George Will on Rehabilitating Lochner
George Will’s latest column is devoted to my book! It starts: Liberal certitudes continue to dissolve, the most recent solvent being a robust new defense of a 1905 Supreme Court decision that liberals have long reviled — and misrepresented. To understand why the court correctly decided Lochner v. New York and why this is relevant […]