Author Archive | Todd Zywicki

Now even the Washington Post is turning on the Chevy Volt. According to this article even though GM can hardly sell of the things it is still losing tens of thousands of dollars on every unit it sells. For me, one question here relates to the efficacy of the auto bailouts and the government’s ownership of […]

The Colorado Supreme Court rejected Ward Churchill’s appeal to be reinstated as a professor on an immunity theory.  Inside Higher Ed story here.  Opinion here.  From the opinion: We affirm, albeit on slightly different grounds. First, we hold that the Regents’ decision to terminate Churchill’s employment was a quasi-judicial action functionally comparable to a judicial […]

I also wanted to give a shout out of congratulations to Scott Kieff, another old friend, who President Obama nominated to the U.S. International Trade Commission. And, of course, congratulations to whoever the Republican talent-spotters who identified Scott and Josh to be nominated to these Commissions.  It is heartening to see smart, capable nominees like […]

Congratulations to my friend and GMU colleague Josh Wright, who has just been nominated to a seat on the Federal Trade Commission.  It is reported that Josh will be the first JD/PhD to serve on the commission.  I cannot overstate how much I respect Josh’s intellect, judgment, and integrity–this is a great get for the […]

Interesting survey here.  88% of respondents self-classify themselves as “strategic defaulters” and 68% say the walked away because the property fell in value (in contrast to hardship and being unable to make their payments, at least as I read the survey).  97% say they would recommend the same course of action to others.  Interesting quote […]

Honduras has reached formal agreement that will allow private investors to begin building three privately-run cities in Honduras.  This has been in the works for some time and it is an intriguing prospect to see it so close to going live. One fascinating thing about these private cities is that the hypothesis is that the […]

I am a big fan of Michael Oakeshott’s essay “The Rule of Law” as seen in my essay from several years ago on “The Rule of Law, Freedom, and Prosperity.”  At the time I wrote that essay I confess that I didn’t fully grasp the nuance and import of Oakeshott’s insights and the subtle but […]

This is a bit of an old article, but I just happened to stumble across Michael Sandel’s article from The Atlantic “What Isn’t for Sale?” which is excerpted from his recent book.  The argument basically boils down to his objection that there are things that are for sale now that weren’t for sale back in […]

Some good quotes from guys who actually know what they are talking about for a change: Pete Boettke and Bruce Caldwell. But while I think the article is better than average–because the author actually describes Hayek’s actual views accurately by letting Boettke and Caldwell describe them–I think the author fails to close the logical loop. […]

I’m scheduled to appear on the Dennis Prager show tomorrow from 1:30-2:00 to discuss the auto bailouts and the rule of law.  You can listen here if you are interested. Last week the Treasury Department issued a report that ups the estimated losses on the auto bailout to $25 billion.

My new article, “The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Savior or Menace?” is now available for download at SSRN.  This will be forthcoming in the George Washington Law Review as part of a symposium on Dodd-Frank. Here’s the abstract: One of the centerpieces of the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation was the creation of a new federal Consumer […]

David Skeel has a nice piece today in the WSJ on “A Nation Adrift from the Rule of Law.”  His piece agrees with many of the themes that I’ve also raised about the decline of the rule of law during the financial crisis and the negative consequences.  (A longer law review version of my argument with […]

I have a piece at Forbes.com on the recent credit card antitrust settlement, “Consumers Are The Winners In The Visa/Mastercard Antitrust Settlement.” I will add a caveat here that I lacked space to add there: some aspects of the settlement are not an unqualified boon for consumers.  In particular, the elimination of contract terms that […]

Forbes has posted a reply by Joann Muller to the column I linked yesterday which asked whether GM was headed for bankruptcy again arguing that there are signs of hope.  With respect to her observations about GM’s growth in China, it appears that most of those cars will be manufactured in China as well.  I don’t […]

My colleague (and Green Bag Editor) Ross Davies has just posted a little article about a fascinating case of moral hazard in contracting involving, of all people, John Marshall.