Author Archive | Todd Zywicki

On June 9 the Mercatus Center and the International Center for Law and Economics will be holding a conference on the regulation of interchange fees.  Info and registration is here.  I’ll be presenting a new paper that I’ve just been finishing up on the topic. Readers may be aware that new regulations related to interchange […]

An interesting profile in First Things of Michael J. Astrue, lawyer and head of the Social Security Administration, who moonlights as A.M. Juster: “formalist poet, comic versifier, and classical translator.”

Martin Robins has a good summary today of some of the flaws of the financial regulatory reform bill in his column “Financial Regulations Miss The Target.”  He notes, among other points, that by the end of the year at least 11 percent of securitized commercial loans are expected to be 60 days or more past […]

I recently received a copy of a new set of teaching/reference materials assembled by Professor Andrew Popper, “Materials on Tort Reform.”  I was fortunate to be invited to submit a short contribution based on a working paper of mine “Public Choice and Tort Reform” that I am currently reworking into a book with Jeremy Kidd. […]

Some of the results in this new article by Zeljka Buturovic and Dan Klein in Econ Journal Watch (a peer-reviewed journal of economics) are startling: 67% of self-described Progressives believe that restrictions on housing development (i.e., regulations that reduce the supply of housing) do not make housing less affordable. 51% believe that mandatory licensing of […]

with Woody Allen.  If you are one, like me, who actually still cares about Woody Allen.  Surely he is exaggerating how he really feels.  At least I hope.

The Competitive Enterprise Institute has filed an FTC complaint against General Motors for its claim that it has paid off its bailout loan “in full, with interest, five years ahead of schedule.”  The complaint is here. Although one suspects that this is intended at least in part as a publicity stunt, the complaint actually seems […]

A hearty congratulations to my old friend Brad Smith, who has just been named as a 2010 recipient of a Bradley Prize for “outstanding achievement awarded annually to prominent scholars and engaged citizens.” Other winners this year are Michael Barone, Paul Gigot, and John Taylor–all exceedingly appropriate winners.

My friends at the Washington Legal Foundation have started a new blog, “The Legal Pulse.”  The weekly “Finger on the Pulse” round-up of stories looks to be especially useful to the general reader.

A spat has broken out over an advertisement by the Chamber of Commerce that states that under Senator Chris Dodd’s financial reform legislation, the new Bureau of Consumer Protection would have the authority to regulate dentists.  Senator Dodd and the Obama Administration say that is not true. The issue arises because dentists often permit patients […]

My friend and sometimes co-author Maxwell Stearns has a column in the Baltimore Sun today on the role of judicial philosophy and Supreme Court confirmation hearings, “It’s a Fact: Judges Make Law.”

The Society for the Development of Austrian Economics has just announced the inaugural Carl Menger Essay Prize for undergraduate students.  Info is here.  The prize is $1,000 and the opportunity to present at the Society’s annual meeting in the fall at the Southern Economic Association meetings.  The subject matter is described broadly: The purpose of […]

Next Tuesday April 27 I’ll be in San Francisco talking about the 9th Circuit’s opinion in the Anna Nicole Smith case (which I blogged on here).  The Pacific Research Institute is sponsoring.  The program will be at the Ritz-Carlton at noon.  Details here.

Pollster Scott Rasmussen reports that Barack Obama leads Ron Paul by 42-41% in a hypothetical 2012 presidential election.  Via Michael Barone.