Author Archive | Todd Zywicki

The inspiration for Robert Putnam’s famous book Bowling Alone was the observation that although Americans bowl at more or less the same rate as always, they increasingly are “bowling alone” rather than as part of organized leagues. Putnam sees this decline in participation in bowling leagues as suggestive of a general American social decline in […]

My colleague Nelson Lund says it is impossible to nominate “another O’Connor” to replace O’Connor: First, even if one assumed the ideal replacement for Justice O’Connor would be another Justice O’Connor, the president could not possibly identify such an individual. Justice O’Connor’s generally cautious and pragmatic approach to law means many of her significant votes […]

The battle over evicting the Kelo homeowners continues to heat up. News reports are somewhat spotty and it is hard for me to figure out precisely what is going on with respect to the New London Development Corp. and their efforts to evict the Kelo homeowners. Tom Blumer at Bizzyblog, however, is reporting that in […]

Doug Lederman at Inside Higher Ed has an exhaustive and linik-filled article on the various positions of parties and amici of the FAIR v. Rumsfeld litigation, including links to a number of the amicus briefs that have been filed in the case. John Eastman has weighed in with a typically interesting and provocative brief making […]

Apparently Eugene actually does read it for the articles–I always thought that was just an excuse.

This may be symbolic, but it is now reported that the Connecticut Governor has used the leverage of threatening to withhold state money for the New London development to force a rescission of the eviction notices reported last week. The politics around this issue continue to remain interesting: But the dispute re-energized calls for a […]

This is sort of fun for sports history enthusiasts.

Here: The poll, conducted Sept. 8-11, finds that 58% of Americans support the Senate confirming Roberts to serve as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Twenty-seven percent oppose his confirmation and 15% have no opinion. Gallup has asked this question four times since President Bush nominated Roberts in late July, initially to replace retiring Justice […]

Ballardvale Research has posted a list of “Best Practices” for the Top 30 College/University Crisis Management Responses to Hurricane Katrina. Dartmouth, Duke, and MIT are singled out as exemplary in their response. Dartmouth established a Katrina blog for those displaced by the hurricane, and those trying to locate victims of the hurricane here. A blog […]

The people’s economist, Walter Williams, patiently explains once again why limits on “price gouging” are counterproductive (I noted Georgia’s “crackdown” on price gouging a week or two ago): The fallout from Hurricane Katrina has featured a lot of ignorance and demagoguery about prices. Let’s look at some of it. One undeniable fact is that the […]

Andrew Samwick, late of President Bush’s Council of Economic Advisors, asks the right questions about President Bush’s speech last night: Where to begin? I’ll start by noting for the benefit of the folks working on the President’s speeches that the sentence, “It’s going to cost whatever it costs,” gives the audience no confidence in the […]

Inside Higher Ed reports that New York Law School has been “placed on a list of higher education institutions that are iineligible for contracts and grants by reason of a determination by the Secretary of Defense that the institution prohibits or in effect prevents military recruiter access to the campus, students on campus or student […]

Paul Caron reports.

Wendy Mcelroy asks the question in a thought-provoking column: For better or worse, new reproductive technologies are redefining the ground rules of reproduction. (And, no, the force of law can not hold back scientific ‘progress,’ as authorities have discovered repeatedly since Galileo’s day.) New reproductive technologies may also redefine the politics surrounding reproduction, including the […]

Professor Ben Barros of Widener Law School has posted his testimony to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives State Government Committee suggesting possible legislative responses to Kelo. He has some interesting and practical ideas. It is available here. He suggests that the legislature enact special protections for takings of people’s homes for this purpose, a point […]