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Tag Archives: Law
Reasonableness = Random Adjudication*
* This “micro-law review article” was revised and updated on 25 Feb. 2014– Like Richard Epstein [1], prior probability agrees that “reasonableness,” standing alone, is an open-ended and indeterminate legal standard. Yet, at the same time, this legal standard permeates … Continue reading
Why are prediction markets illegal?
Because regulators — the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in particular, which has the legal authority to regulate commodity markets — have declared prediction markets to be “contrary to the public interest”. But if the “public interest” is the … Continue reading
Hobby Lobby Case
All are invited to attend the Fourth Annual Professors Debate at the Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law in Orlando, Florida from 4:45 to 6 pm in Room ALC 203. Professor Scott Gaylord, Jennings Professor and Emerging Scholar at Elon … Continue reading
What is the optimal speed limit on toll roads?
Is it 80 mph? 90? 100? You tell me …
Legal systems of the world
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Leaking the leakers
Would you feel any differently about the actions of Edward Snowden, Glenn Greenwald, or Julian Assange if you knew what they really thought? Sean Wilentz, a historian at Princeton University, poses this intriguing question in this exposé in the latest issue of the … Continue reading
What common law rule or general legal principle would you retire?
Res ipsa loquitur? The rule against perpetuities? Sovereign immunity? Also, what criteria or decision rule would you use in determining which legal rule or principle is ready for retirement? FYI, these questions are inspired by this year’s Annual Question at … Continue reading
The future of law and legislation?
A legislator in California, Mike Gatto (pictured below), recently set up the world’s first Wiki-bill in order to enable private citizens to act as cyber-legislators and help draft an actual law. According to Assemblyman Gatto: Government has a responsibility to listen to the … Continue reading
Why don’t more people play “credit card roulette”?
Credit Card Roulette or CCR is “a way of gambling for bills, usually played for the purpose of settling restaurant checks, by randomly drawing one participant’s credit card.” The website pokerterms.com (from which my definition of CCR is borrowed) offers the following illustration of … Continue reading
The law and economics of Star Trek
Several “Star Trek scholars”–including Matthew Yglesias, Rick Webb, and Joshua Gans–have recently speculated about the economics of Star Trek. How does the economy (and legal system, we would add) work in the world of Star Trek? Does the United Federation of … Continue reading
prior probability 