“Birds Aren’t Real” Movement Comes to Memphis
As George Mason University economist Tyler Cowen would put it, “markets in everything.” (Keep reading)
Podcast Review: “Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football Inc.” Falls Short of a First Down
Just like we should with television or print media, we should approach podcasts with a healthy dose of skepticism, particularly with regard to whatever motives may be behind a story being told or the method in which it is told. (Keep reading)
Kroger Ending Free Alt-Weekly Distribution Is Probably Not an Antitrust Problem
The Cincinnati-based grocery retailer has decided to stop allowing free alternative weekly newspapers to distribute issues in their stores, but this decision probably does not amount to an antitrust violation. (Keep reading)
New NHL Rule on Player Helmets Will Frustrate Many Players and Fans (Or, Why Every Answer to a Question in Law School Begins with “It Depends”)
The word “reasonable” sparked some discussion between NHL Network Radio’s Steve Kouleas and Scott Laughlin today on their show, the Power Play, including Kouleas’s exasperated question, “What does ‘reasonable’ mean?!” I’m here with answers. (Keep reading)
More About Antitrust Law and Horizontal Agreements Between Automakers to Reduce Emissions
Yesterday, I sent my post on the antitrust implications of an agreement between BMW, Ford, Honda, Volkswagen, and the State of California to John Newman, my former Antitrust Law professor to whose recent column in The Atlantic on the agreement I was critiquing, and he graciously responded. As I said initially, I was pretty sure the conclusion in John’s syllogism was correct, but I stand by my claims that mere altruism isn’t (and shouldn’t be) what controls when it comes to measuring the impact of anti-competitive conduct on consumer welfare. (Keep reading)
It’s Conceivable That Invisible Space Aliens Are Flying Among Us: The Insanity of the Rational Basis Test
As long as a court can conceive of a justification for some challenged laws, then it will decline to intervene. This conceivable justification does not have to be a good one, and the government does not even have to offer, much less prove, one! This is an extremely deferential, pro-government standard of review. (Keep reading)
Let’s Try This Blogging Thing Again
I founded my website on this day, Constitution Day, in 2010, but I shuttered it four years ago when I went to law school. Now, I’m moving on to the next chapter of my professional life, so I’m going to try to write somewhat regularly again. (Keep reading)
Just Because an Altruistic Motive Animates a Horizontal Agreement Between Competitors Doesn’t Mean That the Agreement Promotes Consumer Welfare
One of my former law professors is undoubtedly correct in his positive statements of antitrust law. Where I part ways with him in considering whether it should apply to an agreement between BMW, Ford, Honda, Volkswagen, and California to develop greener cars is that I am not persuaded that the agreement will promote consumer welfare. (Keep reading)
“Purged by Press Release: First Responders, Free Speech, and Public Employment Retaliation in the Digital Age”
That’s the title of a scholarly article I wrote as a third-year law student that the Oregon Law Review published, and which was cited approvingly in a federal court case, earlier this year. (Keep reading)
John Cleese and Michael Palin Debate the Meaning and Impact of The Life of Brian with a Catholic Bishop and an Evangelical Journalist
A 1979 debate on a BBC program is well worth any Monty Python fan’s time, but, more broadly, it should also appeal to anyone who noodles over the tensions between the sacred and the profane. (Keep reading)