Merchants persuaded a federal appeals court to throw out the Federal Reserve’s debit-card fee cap. They might want to hold the applause until they see its replacement. A ruling aimed at the Fed’s arithmetic could leave room for a higher
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The Halloween Effect and the Premature Burial of Efficient Markets
Every October, financial journalism performs a small act of necromancy. Out comes the “Halloween effect,” the finding that stocks tend to earn higher returns from November through April than from May through October. It gives apparent empirical backing
‘Contemporary Law and Economics,’ by Adam Chilton, Joshua C. Macey & Mila Versteeg
What does it mean to be a law & economics (L&E) scholar? It can’t require a Ph.D. in economics. Richard Posner doesn’t have one. He didn’t even major in economics as an undergraduate, preferring English—as did his Chicago colleagues Douglas
Old Insurance Wisdom for New AI Risks
Artificial intelligence (AI) may be new to the insurance market, but uncertainty is an old customer. Insurers have spent centuries figuring out how to price unfamiliar risks, reward precautions, and avoid betting the whole portfolio on the same weak link.
The FCC’s Public Interest in Your Personnel Files
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) licenses television stations. Does that make it Disney’s human resources department? The agency seems to think so, invoking a “public interest” mandate to investigate the company’s diversity policies—a mandate whose meaning seems to change with
How to Profit From a Cartel Without Joining One
Adam Smith warned that people in the same trade rarely meet without the conversation turning to a scheme to raise prices. Antitrust enforcers on both sides of the Atlantic now suspect they can skip the meeting—a shared shareholder may do
Fin-Syn Is a Rerun Washington Should Skip
Some of Hollywood’s most high-powered producers and agents have a pitch for Washington. Make streaming services spend half their original-content budgets buying from independent U.S. producers. Producers and talent agencies would get guaranteed business. Viewers, on the other hand,
Every Click You Make: Article 6(5)’s Search for a Limiting Principle
When does a “directions” button become a competition-law violation? When it points to Google Maps, according to the European Commission. A law meant to police search rankings is becoming a license to police the whole page.
On July 23, the
Brussels Rules Without the Brussels Perks
Brussels’ latest competition guidelines should probably come with a warning label. Countries borrowing them risk importing dubious economics, remedies designed for Europe’s very specific institutional problems, and a trade fight with Washington.
On Sept. 3, after a three-year process, the
‘The Value of the Ability to Deal with Disequilibria,’ by Theodore Schultz
The most valuable skill in the age of artificial intelligence (AI) may not be coding, prompt engineering, or any of the other competencies appearing in job listings. It may be the ability to figure out which skills will be valuable