While the U.S. Constitution is difficult to amend, most states constitutions are much easier to amend. This essay explores the implications of easily amended constitutions on the nature and quality of government. Theoretically, malleable constitutions can be more innovative and responsive to...

Since the early 1990s, California has experienced a recurring budget crisis. This article examines the combined budgets of state and local governments and the institutions for creating these budgets to ascertain the source of the problem. The facts are that California collects more taxes and...

In most of the world's professional sport leagues, the worst teams in better leagues are demoted while the best teams in weaker leagues are promoted. This article examines the economics of promotion and relegation, using data from English football (soccer). The crucial findings are as follows:...

Since the mid-1980s, the federal government has supported collaborative R&D in private consortia and between industry and national research laboratories. One justification for these activities is that they can solve 'public goods' problems associated with producing non-appropriable,...

Our introduction to this compendium reviews Alfred Kahn’s academic and policy interests, his activities as a regulator and advisor to governments and companies, and the interactions between these aspects of his life as an economist. Although best known for his research on the economics of...

The federal government has made substantial progress in reforming economic regulation--especially by deregulating prices and reducing entry barriers in specific industries.

In 2012 the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD 2012a) issued an assessment of Mexico’s telecommunications industry. This report concluded that the performance of the sector, while improved, remains below attainable goals, and that the causes of the performance...