The state action doctrine was born in an era of exceptional confidence in government, with governmental entities widely regarded as unbiased and conscientious defenders of the public interest. Over time, however, more cautious and skeptical theories of government began to gain sway. In...

This article was prepared as part of a recent symposium celebrating the Ninetieth Anniversary of the founding of the Federal Trade Commission. In addition, Fall 2004 marks the Thirtieth Anniversary of a pivotal moment in the establishment of the modern advocacy program at the FTC, Chairman Lewis...

Bruce Yandle is one of the most influential economists of his generation, especially in the fields of environmental economics and public choice economics. But Yandle is also one of the most gifted communicators of economics and economic principles of his generation. This chapter, written for a...

The bankruptcy proceedings of Chrysler and General Motors were filed at the height of the financial crisis that rocked the global economy in the late-2000s. Although both companies originally received federal financial bailouts to try to avert bankruptcy, within months they were forced to file...

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...

Since the inception of the first permanent American bankruptcy law in 1898, the intellectual and political understanding of consumer bankruptcy has been anchored in a model that views bankruptcies as resulting from household financial distress. For much of the Twentieth Century, this traditional...

The skyrocketing bankruptcy filing rates of recent years are well known. Some commentators and scholars have charged that the cause of the bankruptcy boom has been promiscuous lending by credit card issuers and irrational borrowing by credit card users. Spurred on by high-profits, it is argued...

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) were born from sound motives of protecting participants in biomedical research protocols from undue risk of harm. Over time, however, the scope of IRBs have expanded to cover all types of research involving human subjects, including social science research. In...