As in years past, to catalyze the students in my Ph.D. F798 class to think of finance ideas, I asked each one of them to read the abstracts of finance articles published in the last 5 years in JF, JFE, RFS and JFQA. Some general observations from the hard data above and the soft data generated...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Arbitration Study: Report to Congress 2015 does not support the case for ex ante regulation of mandatory consumer arbitration clauses. It contains no data on the typical arbitration outcome?a settlement?and it is these arbitral settlements, and not...

This paper examines the relationship between behavioral law and economics (BLE) as a policy prescription platform and its influence on the regulations emerging from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). We show how these regulations are inconsistent with the intent and purpose of...

This article reviews the law and economics of consumer debt collection and its regulation, a topic that has taken on added urgency in light of the announcement by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that it is considering new regulations on the subject. Although stricter regulation of...

In most areas, economists look to competition to align incentives, but not so with courts. Many believe that competition enables plaintiff forum shopping, but Adam Smith praised rivalry among courts. This article describes the courts when the common law developed. In many areas of law, courts...

Twenty-five years ago Richard Epstein published Simple Rules for a Complex World, which would go on to become one of Epstein's most influential works. This essay, prepared for a conference and symposium to celebrate the anniversary of the book, applies the insights of Simple Rules in the context...

From guns to lead paint to sub-prime mortgages to global climate change, use of the common law doctrine of public nuisance to recover damages allegedly caused by the actions of multiple parties over many years is rising. These efforts have met with mixed results, and there are serious doubts...