Author Archive | Todd Zywicki

So says Richard Epstein in today’s Washington Times. Richard argues that by depriving debit card issuers of a reasonable rate of return the Durbin Amendment capping debit card fees, as interpreted by the Federal Reserve, is unconstitutional. In related news, Chase announced (even before the Fed announced its unexpectedly onerous price caps) that in response […]

A nominee for least-surprising business story of the year–payday lending booms as new credit card regulations and the credit crunch reduce access to credit cards, especially for higher-risk borrowers. “We believe that we’re starting to see a benefit of a general reduction in consumer credit, particularly … subprime credit cards,” Patrick O’Shaughnessy, Advance America’s chief […]

is not actually in the Bill of Rights, Federalist Papers, Declaration of Independence, or the Constitution. Although 42% of Americans believe it is according to a survey conducted by the Bill of Rights Institute and Harris Interactive.  More on the BRI blog.

I was pleased, along with Josh Wright and several other antitrust scholars, to submit an amicus brief in support of cert. in the Tobacco Master Settlement Case.  We argue that the state action exception to the antitrust laws should not be extended to cover a multistate government-created cartel such as this one.  We also survey […]

The John Stossel special which I mentioned awhile back will run this Friday on Fox News at 9 pm.  Russ Roberts, among others, will appear.

How about the 11th, 18th, 22nd, and 27th Amendments, all of which I think are generally considered “conservative” in nature. More generally, I perceive no “conservative” bias against “constitutional tinkering.”  In fact, it seems to me that it is implicit in conservative jurisprudence that conservatives should favor more constitutional amendments, simply because they are less […]

Check it out.

This should be a good one: Truth on the Market is doing a blog symposium on behavioral law and economics next week (Dec. 6-7).  Really outstanding lineup and a really timely subject.

While waiting in the airport yesterday morning flying back from Florida I looked over and saw a man intensely reading the Constitution (the Cato version).  The text was already highlighted in several places and he was now underlining other passages.  Turns out that it was new Congressman-elect Allen West of Florida.  I’ve occasionally seen politicians […]

C-Span has been running video of a few of the panels from the Stanford Constitutional Law Center Conference that I attended a few weeks ago.  You can also find video on C-Span’s web site from two of the panels: “Executive Power During a Financial Crisis” and “Federal Intervention in Auto Industry Bailout” (the panel on […]

I’ve never liked the federal judicial clerkship cartel.  Neither does my colleague Josh Wright. Josh explains the economics of cartels.  Here’s my perspective on the public choice dynamics of the clerkship cartel.  The primary instigators and enforcers of the cartel have always been the professors at the elite law schools who recognize (perhaps implicitly) that […]

Richard addresses the issues of the day including his former faculty colleague Professor Barack Obama and many other topics.

David Gans of Balkinization has posted a critique of my National Review article on repealing the 17th Amendment.  In the title of his post he asserts, “The Tea Party, Once Again, Has History All Wrong”– a characterization that he also attributes to me. Now, my initial inclination in response to Gans is simply to ask […]

My article from last week’s issue of National Review, “Repeal the 17th Amendment,” is now available online at NRO.

Reason.TV has a new show up “In Defense of Payday Lending” in which I appear a few times.  Other than that it is a very interesting and illuminating segment.  You can find it here. Here it is: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKTIJ5Xmb8w[/youtube]