Eighty-seven percent of constitutional law professors back marriage for same-sex couples, and 7 out of 10 believe the federal Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional, but only a slight majority of 54% think the federal Constitution requires states to recognize same-sex marriages. That’s the result of a survey of 485 constitutional law professors that I […]
Archive | California
My Wandering Summer Reading
Although only mid-August, school will be starting up for me only too soon … during the summer months, I make a vow (at best half kept most years) to spend two hours a day reading stuff, anything that is not strictly driven by a current writing project. I’ve found that if I can persuade myself […]
California’s Woes and Prop 13
I guess a better title would be “California’s Woes and Prop 13, Not.” Also, never let it be said that Our Volokh Conspiracy – and its commenters – do not drive the intellectual agenda. William Voegeli, a couple of whose articles on California’s finances have been linked here (see California tag), and who also provided […]
How Do California and Greece Compare?
(Update.) Thanks, Glenn, for the Instalanche! Let’s add this front page article in the Financial Times today, Tuesday, February 9, 2010, “Traders in Record Bet Against the Euro.” (You might also want to see my more general discussion in a post above on the directions of the EU regarding the unstable position of currency union […]
The “Demon Sheep” Video
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo7HiQRM7BA[/youtube]I’m at an academic conference at Stanford Law School this weekend and have had my attention drawn to the latest internet sensation: The “Demon Sheep” Video. The video was produced for Carly Fiorina’s Republican Senate campaign. It is a 3 and 1/2 minute “attack ad” against Tom Campbell, a respected former Stanford law professor and congressman. […]
Golden California
The Times Literary Supplement has a nice cover review-essay on California – Golden California – and it is, happy to say, open access. It’s by Michael Saler and reviews two books, Imperial (on the Imperial Valley, by William Vollman) and Golden Dreams (part of California historian Kevin Starr’s multivolume series on California history). Although agreeing […]
Underfunded Public Pensions as “Stranded” Costs? Two Trillion Dollars?
By Kenneth Anderson on January 5, 2010 9:17 am in California, Economic LIberties, Economy, Voting With Your Feet
The Financial Times runs a story today by Francesco Guerrera and Nicole Bullock on the looming problems of underfunded public pensions at the state and local level in the United States. The news story cites a new study by Orin Kramer, chairman of New Jersey’s pension fund: The estimate by Orin Kramer will fuel investors’ […]
The Robotic Kindness of Strangers
One small nugget I took away from the (absolutely terrific) Stanford Law School robotics panel last week was a much better appreciation of how robotics will interact with advanced societies aging – elder-care, health care for the old and infirm, and so on. Japan leads the way. Paul Saffo (Stanford professor, futurist, and technology journalist, […]
More on California Tax-Services Model – William Voegeli Responds to Comments
By Kenneth Anderson on November 9, 2009 4:14 pm in California, Economy, Housing, Property Rights, Regulation, Voting With Your Feet
Last week I blogged about a very interesting article in the Manhattan Institute’s City Journal by Claremont Review of Books contributing editor William Voegeli titled “The Big-Spending, High-Taxing, Lousy Services Paradigm” (Autumn 2009). It compared the tax-services models of California and Texas. VC commenters were spirited as ever and raised a number of important questions. Although […]
Law and Robotics Panel at Stanford Law School
By Kenneth Anderson on November 6, 2009 11:15 am in Academia, California, International Human Rights Law, International Law, Robotics, War and Armed Conflict
If you are going to be around Palo Alto next Thursday evening, you might consider attending a panel discussion on robotics and law at Stanford Law School. I’ll be on a panel alongside some very interesting and knowledgeable folks taking up varied aspects of robotics (my particular interest is robotics and war, but the panel […]
The California versus Texas Model, and Public Choice
By Kenneth Anderson on November 2, 2009 9:27 pm in California, Economy, Housing, Politics, Regulation, Voting With Your Feet
William Voegeli, a contributing editor at The Claremont Review of Books, has an excellent essay in Manhattan Journal comparing the economic performance of California and Texas. (I believe a short opinion page version appeared recently in the LAT.) Among other things, the article provides a good example for how a public choice analysis can be […]