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Truth on the Market 

Academic commentary on law, business, economics and more.
Post Frequency: 39.9/day Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 00:51:38 Recent Entries: 1318
Go to Truth on the Market, find other Corporate & Securities Law blogs, or browse all law blogs.
We are the Super Rich
Posted on September 15, 2010The rhetoric in Washington about taxes is about millionaires and the super rich, but the relevant dividing line between millionaires and the middle class is pegged at family income of $250,000. (I’m not a math professor, but last time I checked $250,000 is less than $1 million...
Competition in the Evolving Digital Marketplace–Congressional Hearing
Posted on September 15, 2010I will be testifying tomorrow before the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy on competition in the digital marketplace. My testimony won’t be surprising to readers of this blog–in fact some of it was lifted directly from blog posts that have appeared here...
Warren to the rescue
Posted on September 15, 2010Steve Bainbridge recently ridiculed the claim made by some on the left that Harvard Law Professor Elizabeth Warren is the best hope for Democrats in November. (A good friend of mine from law school believes this too.) It was argued that appointing her to run the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would rally the base...
ABA Journal Blog Survey
Posted on September 14, 2010The ABA Journal is once again doing a survey of the most popular “Blawgs.” If you like us, please take a minute to let them know it. See here. Filed under: truth on the market
The Microsoft-Google Antitrust Wars and Public Choice: There is Too An Argument Against Rival Involvement in Antitrust Enforcement
Posted on September 14, 2010How should an economist interpret the fact that Microsoft appears to be “behind” recent enforcement actions against Google in the United States and, especially, in Europe? “With skepticism!” Is the answer I suspect many readers will offer upon first glance...
Bested by a comedian?
Posted on September 14, 2010Remember that discussion a while back about Sen. Franken’s statement about corporations being dangerous because they have to do everything they can to maximize profits? Well, it seemed settled. A bunch of right-wing law professors came out in defense of corporate freedom to act in the interests of whales, trees, hippies, employees, communities, racial interest [...
The Supreme Court and mutual funds @ Cato
Posted on September 14, 2010I’ll be helping Cato celebrate Constitution Day and the soon-to-be-published edition of their latest Supreme Court Review with my contribution on last term’s Jones v. Harris: Federal Misgovernance of Mutual Funds. See Walter Olson’s summary of the panel on the business cases...
Sometimes words escape me
Posted on September 14, 2010In a reply to a comment on my post about the proposed burning of the Koran, I condescendingly lectured someone about their claim that the First Amendment might not protect Koran burning because it was akin to shouting “fire” in a crowded theater...
Heard on Capitol Hill
Posted on September 12, 2010TOTM bloggers get a chance to work with regulators and Hill staff from time to time, so I thought periodically updating our readers on the prevailing gossip may be of interest. Here’s the latest on what the November elections may mean for financial regulation...
The shrinking of Big Law
Posted on September 12, 2010The ABA Journal reports that eight Seyfarth Shaw lawyers, “a substantial portion of the public sector practice group at Seyfarth until last month,” have formed a small boutique in the Chicago suburbs focusing on local governments. The result is a lower-overhead firm that can cut its rates by 10-15% vs...
Art vs. money vs. nature
Posted on September 12, 2010Friday’s WSJ reported on Christo’s project to dress 42 miles of the Arkansas River. Christo does spectacular art that usually intrudes, at least temporarily, on nature. In this case it seems he may have met his Waterloo. Interest groups are lining up at the BLM to have their say...
The Audacity of Nope
Posted on September 11, 2010Please note that the following post is a bit off-topic for this blog and represents my own opinion only, not that of any of my co-bloggers. But, hey, it’s Saturday. For the past 599 days, we’ve had a talented young Democratic President and Democratic majorities in both the U...
FTC v. Ovation Opinion
Posted on September 09, 2010The opinion in Ovation (i.e. FTC v. Lundbeck) is now available. Commentary to follow. Filed under: antitrust, intellectual property, patent, technology
Corporate governance for government
Posted on September 09, 2010In 1999, at the height of the Internet bubble, Goldman Sachs gave the directors of eBay pre-IPO shares in other companies Goldman was taking public. This wasn?t charity; eBay paid Goldman Sachs $8 million to take it public the year before and Goldman was simply thanking eBay...
Obama on Koran burning
Posted on September 09, 2010Today the president pressured a pastor to stop the planned burning of Korans on the ninth anniversary of 9/11. On TV this morning, the president said: “If he’s listening, I hope he understands that what he’s proposing to do is completely contrary to our values as Americans...
On income inequality
Posted on September 08, 2010Slate.com presents a nice set of charts on the issue of growing income inequality. It seems there is a reasonable debate to be had about whether this is a good or bad thing. The political debate goes something like this. Republicans either disclaim the growing gap (e...
Some Links
Posted on September 08, 2010SCOTUS judge and law clerk selection as principal-agent / incomplete contracting problem (Orin Kerr) How to read an academic article (Peter Klein), though what seems missing are decision-rules for when articles should be “rejected” for a full-read after skimming The Washington Post reports that antitrust at the Varney DOJ isn’t much different than antitrust under [...
The Costs of Product Placement, Maserati Edition
Posted on September 07, 2010In my academic research, I’ve studied contractual arrangements between manufacturers and retailers for premium shelf space, including slotting arrangements and category management contracts. Typically, a shelf space arrangement in the retail sector will involve the supplier compensating the retailer for some specified promotional shelving arrangement, e...
Allen on Alchian and the UCLA School
Posted on September 07, 2010At Econ Journal Watch. Professor Allen offers a wonderful personal history of the UCLA Economics Department, including the rise and fall of what he describes as “the Alchian Department.” The entire article is worth reading, but I include here an excerpt from Professor Allen’s Nobel (and University Award) nomination on behalf of Armen: Economics is [...
Did Ellison buy HP information?
Posted on September 07, 2010Some are saying that Larry Ellison is putting his money where his mouth is. He loudly defended Mark Hurd after his firing by HP, and now he’s hired the guy. Here’s the WSJ story. Maybe there’s more to this. HP and Oracle are competing over database products, and are making acquisitions in similar areas, such [...
Government by youth gangs
Posted on September 06, 2010Aristides N. Hatzis (University of Athens) has a fairly new blog, and it has an interesting post by Russell S. Sobel on Sobel’s and Brian Osaba’s article Youth Gangs as Pseudo-Governments. Here’s the abstract: We hypothesize the failure of government to protect the rights of individuals from violence committed by youths has led to the [...
Seen in the HP, a continuing series
Posted on September 05, 2010Picking up a pizza last night at the local Giordano’s last night, I was surprised to see this sign. (Those are my legs at the bottom of the picture, which was taken with my phone.) Unemployment in Illinois is nearly 11%, and here on the Southside of Chicago, it must be significantly higher than that...
Who are the most productive workers?
Posted on September 04, 2010Subscribers to American Exceptionalism will reflexively say American workers are the most productive. This is commonly heard on the campaign trail, along with a similar tale of our military being the best equipped, most formidable force the planet has ever seen...
We’re number 9
Posted on September 04, 2010On Wikio’s Top 20 legal blogs. Thanks to our readers and keep coming back. Filed under: blogging
A picture is worth a thousand giggles
Posted on September 04, 2010Seen this morning in Hyde Park: Filed under: truth on the market
FTC v. Ovation Update (and Opinion)
Posted on September 03, 2010The Opinion is available here. My earlier analyses of the FTC’s Ovation complaint are here and here. Judge Ericksen first summarizes the complaint: The FTC claims that Lundbeck violated Section 7 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. § 18 (2006), and Section 5 of the FTC Act, 15 U...
Proxy Access: The Impact of Scholarship
Posted on September 03, 2010In the SEC’s open meeting on proxy access, Commissioner Casey emphasized that the Commission’s decision to adopt Proxy Access would only lead to greater controversy, and would ultimately be subject to challenge under the Administrative Procedures Act for failure to consider whether there was any significant evidence that proxy access would actually result in greater [...
LexisNexis Top 25 Business Law Blogs
Posted on September 02, 2010Lexis is doing a survey of the Top 25 Business Law Blogs. If you like what we do, please take a minute to vote for us by clicking here. Filed under: truth on the market
Attention Economists and Grad Students: Thought About Law School?
Posted on September 02, 2010I have recently joined my colleague Bruce Johnsen as a co director of the Robert A. Levy Fellowship in Law and Liberty at GMU Law. It is a very generous fellowship for economists who have their PhD’s or “ABD” status to come to law school on our dime along with a stipend of roughly $27,000 [...
The FTC Loses in Ovation Pharmaceuticals
Posted on September 02, 2010There are some new developments in the Federal Trade Commission’s consummated merger case brought against Ovation. Namely, the FTC has lost. TOTM readers may recall that I spent some time criticizing the Federal Trade Commission’s complaint, back in 2008, in FTC v...
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Housing Market: Mixed Signals about Falling Prices for February
Two reports have been issued, one by the Massachusetts Association...
Fish on "Religion Without Truth"
Here's a (relatively) recent Stanley Fish Think Again column, call...
Is a child fathered out of wedlock by an American diplomat to a foreign women on foreign soil entitled to US Citizenship by jus sanguinis?
This is a very tough situation your friend is in. It is difficult to know the ex...
Did I harass someone?
Oh, yes. This can be taken in as so many things, especially since you had testif...
Iam interested in tapping the local online search market how do people set up a services like localpull.com or areacodelocal.com? Is there any software that does the job? localpull.com/ areacodelocal are services that he
sign-up on LocalPull. The service is amazing. We love it....
Is it possible to terminate a contract with a real estate brokerage?
First, the Realtor cannot force you to reduce your price. It probably does dissu...
Need urgent answer. Never signed Truth in Lending Disclosure docs - docs at closing had different terms and rates than what we had originally signed up for in the Loan Application. Signed closing docs as assured it would
you have three days to change your mind after closing a re-fi...

Is a child fathered out of wedlock by an American diplomat to a foreign women on foreign soil entitled to US Citizenship by jus sanguinis?
This is a very tough situation your friend is in. It is difficult to know the ex...
Did I harass someone?
Oh, yes. This can be taken in as so many things, especially since you had testif...
Iam interested in tapping the local online search market how do people set up a services like localpull.com or areacodelocal.com? Is there any software that does the job? localpull.com/ areacodelocal are services that he
sign-up on LocalPull. The service is amazing. We love it....
Is it possible to terminate a contract with a real estate brokerage?
First, the Realtor cannot force you to reduce your price. It probably does dissu...
Need urgent answer. Never signed Truth in Lending Disclosure docs - docs at closing had different terms and rates than what we had originally signed up for in the Loan Application. Signed closing docs as assured it would
you have three days to change your mind after closing a re-fi...








