Essays Category
Saving the Political Consensus in Favor of Free Trade
Apr. 20, 2017—Saving the Political Consensus in Favor of Free Trade ABSTRACT 2016 was the year that the political consensus in favor of liberalized international trade collapsed. Today, across the world, voters’ belief that international trade agreements lead to economic inequality threatens to derail ratification of the next generation of trade agreements and undo the substantial gains...
Terrorist Speech on Social Media
Mar. 21, 2017—Terrorist Speech on Social Media ABSTRACT The presence of terrorist speech on the internet tests the limits of the First Amendment. Widely available cyber terrorist sermons, instructional videos, blogs, and interactive websites raise complex expressive concerns. On the one hand, statements that support nefarious and even violent movements are constitutionally protected against totalitarian-like repressions of...
The Management of Staff by Federal Court of Appeals Judges
Mar. 21, 2016—The Management of Staff by Federal Court of Appeals Judges ABSTRACT Federal court of appeals judges have staffs consisting usually of a secretary and four law clerks; some judges have externs as well (law students working part time without pay). These staffs are essential, given judicial workloads and judges’ limitations. Yet not much is known about how the...
Curb Your Enthusiasm for Pigovian Taxes
Nov. 23, 2015—Curb Your Enthusiasm for Pigovian Taxes ABSTRACT Pigovian (or “corrective”) taxes have been proposed or enacted on dozens of harmful products and activities: carbon, gasoline, fat, sugar, guns, cigarettes, alcohol, traffic, zoning, executive pay, and financial transactions, among others. Academics of all political stripes are mystified by the public’s inability to see the merits of...
In Praise of Ex Ante Regulation
Nov. 23, 2015—In Praise of Ex Ante Regulation ABSTRACT Timing is an important consideration in regulatory design. Corrective taxes are usually imposed before or contemporaneously with the harmful activity they are aimed at preventing, while tort awards are assessed ex post, in its aftermath. Patents and research grants both can encourage innovation, but patents pay off only...
Siblings in Law
Apr. 27, 2012—Siblings in Law Legal regulation of the family focuses on two canonical relationships: marriage and parenthood. Courts, legislatures, and scholars routinely take family law’s concentration on just two family ties to be so commonsensical as to require no explicit discussion or explanation. Yet marriage and parenthood are not the only family relationships that can be...