Economics

An Economic Approach to Religious Exemptions

Stephanie H. Barclay

Abstract Externalities caused by religious exemptions have been getting thespotlight again in light of a case the U.S. Supreme Court will hear thisterm: Fulton v. City of Philadelphia. Some argue that religiousindividuals should be required to internalize the costs they impose onthird parties and thus should be denied the right to practice that harmfulbehavior. These […]

W. Keith Robinson, Economic Theory, Divided Infringement, and Enforcing Interactive Patents

Abstract High tech companies—especially in the emerging areas of the Internet of Things, wearable devices, and personalized medicine—have found it difficult to enforce their patents on interactive technologies. Enforcement is especially difficult when multiple parties combine to perform all of the steps of a claimed method, which is referred to as joint or divided infringement. […]

Katrina M. Wyman & Nicholas R. Williams, Migrating Boundaries

The boundaries between land parcels usually are assumed to be static and unchanging. However, not all land borders are stable. An important land boundary that routinely ambulates is the border between what is publicly and privately owned along U.S. coastal shores. This coastal boundary recently has been the subject of renewed attention from the courts, scholars, and even the popular […]

Alan M. White & Carolina Reid Saving Homes? Bankruptcies and Loan Modifications in the Foreclosure Crisis

Do homeowner bankruptcy filings work to delay or prevent home foreclosures, and how do they compare to voluntary loan modifications specifically targeted to mortgage relief? The 2007–2012 financial crisis provides a unique opportunity to assess whether bankruptcy can help homeowners avoid the negative consequences of over-indebtedness and mortgage default. This empirical study analyzes a large, loan-level mortgage dataset to determine which […]

Thomas J. Horton, Robert H. Lande, & Virginia Callahan APPENDIX

This appendix compares the quality of the investigatory and local journalism contained in “old media” with that contained in “new media” by using the metrics the journalism industry itself uses. We ascertain which type of media has won most of the journalism awards in the years since these awards became open to the new media. […]

Brett McDonnell, Dampening Financial Regulatory Cycles

Financial regulation should be countercyclical, strengthening during speculative booms to contain excessive leverage and loosening following crises so as to not limit credit extension in hard times. And yet, financial regulation in fact tends to be procyclical, strengthening following crises and loosening during booms. This Article considers competing descriptive and normative analyses of that procyclical tendency. All of the models and […]

Thomas J. Horton & Robert H. Lande, Should the Internet Exempt the Media Sector From the Antitrust Laws?

Suppose the twenty largest traditional news media companies in the United States, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, and CNN, announced the merger of their news operations. They would likely claim that this merger would result in tremendous cost savings by eliminating duplicative news gathering expenses. They would be correct. They […]

Todd J. Zywicki, The Economics and Regulation of Network Branded Prepaid Cards

One of the fastest growing sectors of the consumer payments marketplace is the general-purpose reloadable prepaid card sector. Their importance accelerated as a consequence of new regulations enacted in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. This increased use of prepaid cards also increased angst among regulators, especially regarding the number and size of fees on prepaid cards. State and […]

Kelly M. Gay, Hunger, Food Prices, and the Food Safety Modernization Act: Balancing Physical Safety and Food Security

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Food Safety Modernization Act (Modernization Act) was signed into law by President Barack Obama on January 4, 2011. The goal of the Act is to reform the United States’ food safety regulations that attempt to safeguard the American public from foodborne illness. However, America is also in the middle of a hunger crisis—millions of […]

Jeremy A. Blumenthal, Expert Paternalism

Scholars and policymakers from multiple disciplines have long debated whether and when paternalistic intervention might be appropriate to guide ordinary decision makers choices and behaviors. Recently, the use of empirical data has begun to inform this debate. Some such research has demonstrated that individuals‘ susceptibility to cognitive and emotional biases leads to nonoptimal decisions in […]

Richard A. Epstein, Dunwody Distinguished Lecture in Law: The Constitutional Paradox of the Durbin Amendment: How Monopolies are Offered Constitutional Protections Denied to Competitive Firms

63 Fla. L. Rev. 1307 (2011)| | | | The Durbin Amendment is the first of the major provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act to have been implemented-but only after it withstood a constitutional challenge on the basis of the Takings Clause in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Now that the Amendment […]

Benjamin J. Steinberg and Dwayne Antonio Robinson, Making BP's Blood Curd-Le: Duty, Economic Loss, and the Potential Cardozian Nightmare after Curd v. Mosaic Fertilizer

63 Fla. L. Rev. 1245 (2011)| | | ARTICLE :: The traditional economic loss rule precludes plaintiffs-such as those affected by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill-from recovering losses not resulting from damage to person or property. Most states have applied the rule to various circumstances and have carved out several exceptions over time, including […]

Jacob D. Moore, The Forgotten Victim in the Human Gene Patenting Debate: Pharmaceutical Companies

63 Fla. L. Rev. 1277 (2011)| | | NOTE :: Scientific innovation is crucial to the prosperity, security, and health of a nation. During the founding years of the United States, political leaders realized the need for such innovation and created the patent law system 2 as a means of protecting American citizens. The major […]