Author Archive | Todd Zywicki

So that brings us to Justice O’Connor’s last major figure, Senator Wagner. She quotes him at length: Senator Wagner was an especially vigorous opponent of the proposed § 3. In his view, it failed to “correct the central error of national prohibition. It does not restore to the States responsibility for their local liquor problems. […]

Amazingly, Justice O’Connor next turns to proposed §3, and states that the decision to delete proposed §3 demonstrates that §2 was intended to give plenary power to the states over interstate commerce. I have explained previously why this reading of proposed §3 is incorrect. Here, therefore, I will limit myself to explaining why Justice O’Connor’s […]

The first mention of legislative history that O’Connor points to is a floor statement by Rep. Lea of California. O’Connor writes, “Although neither the House of Representatives nor the state ratifying conventions deliberated long on the powers conferred on the States by § 2, but see 76 Cong.Rec. 2776 (1933) (statement of Rep. Lea of […]

Over the past few weeks (see August archives) I have explained why it thus seems clear to me that the Wilson Act, then the Webb-Kenyon Act, then the 21st Amendment, and still more recently the 21st Amendment enforcement act all manifest the same purpose—the enable the states to better enforce their long-standing police powers regarding […]

If the Republicans are the Yankees, then what does 22-0 mean? Then again, I guess its only what happens in the late fall that matters…

Three ideas suggested about cell phone regulation (assuming that cell phones and driving impose a cost through riskier driving–a contested proposition, as was noted): 1. Impose a ban/fine: This is Law & Econ 101, so I’m a bit embarrassed that I didn’t think of it myself, but as usual Jonathan Klick was able to straighten […]

Ugh–I hate the Yankees.

Larry Ribstein notes that the evidence remains somewhat ambiguous on the effects of driving while talking on a cell phone. In particular, as Larry suggests and I should have acknowledged more explicitly in my initial post, any costs associated with cell phone use should be balanced against the benefits, especially in terms of potential social […]

For the record Orin, I would prefer the piece on Korean bankruptcy law. Then again, when I was in bankruptcy practice, we used to pester the lending and corporate attorneys to take us to meet their clients for whom they were closing deals and they always blew us off. One finally fessed up that taking […]

New paper concludes that drivers impaired by driving while talking on cell phones are more dangerous that drunk drivers. The abstract: We used a high-fidelity driving simulator to compare the performance of cell-phone drivers with drivers who were legally intoxicated from ethanol. When drivers were conversing on either a hand-held or hands-free cell-phone, their braking […]

Its called BizFems and its a collection of female corporate and commercial law scholars. Its just getting started but has some interesting people on it.

Disappointing decision by the 10th Circuit in Powers v. Oklahoma this week upholding Oklahoma’s law permitting only licensed funeral directors to sell caskets. Why someone would need a to embalm 25 bodies, pass a licensing examination, and complete a specified 60-credit program of undergraduate training for the required funeral director’s license just to sell a […]

While on the topic of great speeches by public figures, I commend to all a remarkable speech by Carly Fiorina of HP in support of globalization. She is extremely effective in providing anecdotes and personal stories that support the abstract insights of economic theory on why globalization is good for the poor. Using Thomas Sowell’s […]

In response to my earlier designation of the Washington Times as the “Good” Times, a friend of mine remarked that I’m the only person in America who reads the New York Times solely for the sports news (last year I had 2 Giants and 1 Jet on my fantasy football team). Strange, but true.

t has long been my belief that environmentalism in practice is really more of a religious lifestyle, rather than a science-based effort to actually protect the environment. My article “Baptists? The Political Economy of Environmental Interest Groups” makes this argument. Two articles from yesterday’s headlines shed some light on the subject of whether environmentalists are […]