Outsourcing the Welfare State
After excessive leverage, the largest problem with Wall Street and the financial sector as it exists today is that we rely on it as an essential feature of many policies [...]
“Dark Horse” Case is a Stalking Horse for More Aggressive Copyright Enforcement
The $2.8 million in damages that Katy Perry and those involved in the production of the song “Dark Horse” must pay to the Christian rapper Marcus Gray (AKA Flame) for [...]
We PAID, but Patent Holders Profit
If you listen to the representatives of patent-intensive industries, particularly in the field of prescription drugs, you will be led to believe that these firms provide life-saving innovations (true) that [...]
DOJ Weighs in On Zeppelin Infringement Case
Say what you will about Bill Barr’s Department of Justice, but apparently a few G-Men are Zeppelin fans. The Department of Justice filed an amicus brief in support of Led [...]
This Week in Financial Regulation, August 13th
News and Commentary Matt Stoller has an interesting issue of his BIG newsletter describing the inequality in how the Fed sets interests rates and, more importantly, who gets to borrow [...]
Making Sense of the Barro-Ricardo Equivalence in a Financialized World
The 2008 crisis created a need to rethink many aspects of economic theory, including the role of public intervention in the economy. On this issue, we explore the Barro-Ricardo equivalence, [...]
The Monetary Basis of Bank Supervision
A series of statutory provisions codified at Title 12 of the U.S. Code empower special government officials known as supervisors to examine banks and tell bankers what to do, not [...]
The Value of Intermediation in the Stock Market
Brokers continue to play a critical role in intermediating institutional stock market transactions. More than half of all institutional investor order flow is still executed by high-touch (non-electronic) brokers. Despite [...]
Jumbo rates are below conforming rates: When did this happen and why?
Pre-crisis estimates of the jumbo-conforming spread, utilizing a variety of methodologies, ranged from 10 to 25 basis points. In the post-crisis period, this spread has decreased and has been negative [...]
This Week in Intellectual Property, August 12th
News and Commentary July's entry in EFF's "Stupid Patent of the Month" series is up! This particular stupid patent is owned by Anuwave LLC, and it covers technology that allows [...]