Author Archive | Todd Zywicki

The Institute for Humane Studies will be hosting a webinar Tuesday night from 7:00-8:00 by South Texas College of Law Assistant Professor Josh Blackman on “How to Enter the Legal Job Market.”  Info is available here.  If you aren’t already registered with the Institute for Humane Studies you will have to do so in order […]

I noted the letter to the New Hampshire AG from some anonymous whistle-blowers a few months back.  The New Hampshire AG has decided not to investigate.  Joe Asch has the documents and extensive analysis here.  According to the AG’s office, about 13.5% of Dartmouth’s endowment is invested in related-party investments (about $459 million).  Asch notes one […]

Courtesy of the New York Times, a cautionary tale about the endowment investment strategies of large universities–which have underperformed the market in recent years.  It turns out, surprise, surprise, that high returns were actually linked to high levels of risk (not to mention liquidity risk).  And that the management fees at hedge funds and the […]

Last week I linked to a news story about a new challenge to the GM bankruptcy that dealt with a “lock up” agreement that directed a large amount of money to creditors of GM’s Canadian subsidiary in order to keep them from driving that subsidiary into bankruptcy.  The problem, as I understand it from news […]

In case you missed it, Daniel Kahneman has issued a warning to social psychologists, whose field has been rocked recently by a series of exposures of high-level scientific fraud and falsification by several social psychologists.  All of them work in the same general field.  One thing I wondered reading the story is whether it is […]

My colleague Michael Greve has a two part analysis of the constitutional challenge that has been filed to Dodd-Frank (Part I and Part II). Let me commend it first by noting that regardless of whether one agrees with Michael’s analysis and final conclusion his posts are a useful and succinct summary of the issues in […]

According to Bankrate.com, bank fees rose again last year.  Meanwhile the percentage of accounts eligible for free checking, which had risen to 76% in 2009, fell again last year, now to only 39% of accounts and eligibility requirements for free checking became more onerous (such as larger minimum balances).  Other fees rose as well. And according […]

In my first post on this I was trying to elicit information and discussion rather than taking a position and making an affirmative argument.  The whole arrangement just seemed odd to me–I just hadn’t heard of a lawyer who was not active under any state bar being able to represent a private third-party in litigation just […]

A non-lawyer friend of mine asks me a question: “I was reading a Tenn. State Supreme Court decision on paternity fraud, linked to by Glenn Reynolds, and I came across this line: “Ms. Hodge perfected an appeal. Why ‘perfected’? It’s obviously a technical usage, and the meaning is clear enough in context, but what’s the reason […]

Most of the discussion about Elizabeth Warren’s law practice has focused on the question of whether she violated UPL laws by practicing in Massachusetts without a Massachusetts license. But there is another issue that I’ve been wondering about.  As her defenders have noted, her practice has been in federal court, including the Supreme Court.  Under […]

A reminder for those who are interested of the upcoming GMU Law & Economics Workshop for Law Professors on Public Choice Economics.  It will be held January 25-28, 2013 at South Seas Island Resort in Captiva Island, Florida.  Information and application information is here.  The faculty are Fred McChesney, Barry Weingast, and yours truly. There […]

Senator Blutarsky does an extensive analysis of the finances of the Chevy Volt and concludes: THE BOTTOM LINE: even with generous assumptions, the first generation of the Chevrolet Volt will consume about $1 billion in federal tax credits, and STILL result in an economic loss to GM shareholders in excess of $600 million over its […]

I hadn’t heard of this until a reader sent me the link: General Motors GM -1.86% is worried that a little-noticed lawsuit could reopen the books on its massive 2009 federal bailout, a deal touted by President Barack Obama during this year’s election season as one of his chief first-term achievements. The lawsuit, filed by a trust representing […]

From a 1968 Report by the Senate Subcommittee on Legal and Monetary Affairs (p. 4-5): Organized crime derives most of its revenue from gambling…. Organized crime’s next largest source of revenue is from “loan sharking” or “shylocking,” that is the lending of money at highly usurious rates of interest, generally in circumstances where the lender […]

The Goldwater Institute in Phoenix, an organization for which I am honored to serve as a Senior Scholar, is seeking an experienced litigator.  Info on the position and how to apply is here. I’m a big fan of Goldwater and they have a very active and effective litigation operation.