Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy
Volume 33, Issue 2, Spring 2010
1. Title: WHY I WILL NEVER BE A KEYNESIAN
Authors:Epstein, Richard A.
Abstract:The author explores the works of John Maynard Keynes and his book, the "General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money," as he relates to the present economic recession in the U.S. He distrusts Keynes' position and analysis on the past Great Depression that hit the U.S. in the 30s, which he considers an over devotion to a Chicago-type economics. He argues that Keynes' scope is weak and incomplete and claims that even the modern Keynesians do not have any solutions to offer that cannot be found within the standard economic framework.
2. Title:UNAFFORDABLE HOUSING AND POLITICAL KICKBACKS ROCKED THE AMERICAN ECONOMY
Authors:Issa, Darrell
Abstract:The article discusses unaffordable housing and political kickbacks which rocked the U.S. economy. The author tries to identify the root causes of the U.S. recent economic downturn. He believes that the crisis resulted from the over-inflation of the housing bubble where mortgage firms made reckless and high-risk loans to even unqualified borrowers. He claims that what drove the lenders to go through such irresponsible business practices was the government itself and its intervention in the housing market.
3. Title:CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF THE FINANCIAL CRISIS OF 2007-2009
Authors:Poole, William
Abstract:The article discusses the alleged causes and consequences of the financial crisis experienced by the U.S. from 2007 to 2009. The author gives a chronology of the financial crisis from the time it started in mid-August 2007 to December 2008 where the economic activity declined sharply. He also highlights the conditions that led to the crisis including underwriting standards for subprime mortgages deteriorated and lending to households without adequate income or assets.
4. Title:SMITH VERSUS KEYNES: ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL ECONOMY IN THE POST-CRISIS ERA
Authors:Gregg, Samuel
Abstract:The article discusses the economics and political economy in the post-crisis era in the U.S. It explores the various models of economic framework and claims that since John Maynard Keynes' time economics has gone through mathematization. It also mentions Wilhelm Röpke (1899-1966), a postwar West Germany's economist, who believed that Keynesian economic policies diminishes economic and political liberty, and whose analysis and insights still prove to be useful in contemporary economics.
5. Title:THE BANKS VERSUS THE CONSTITUTION
Authors:Paul, Ron
Abstract:The author in the article argues that the U.S. is heading for socialism. He explores the idea that the banks are straying from the Constitution's framework. He states that since October 2008, the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve have taken large shares in many private firms including insurers, banks and manufacturers. He claims that long before the 2008 economic downturn, the banking sector was already quasi-socialist and that the government through its Federal Reserve policy has been eroding the American's capacity for self-government.
6. Title:STRAW MAN CAPITALISM AND A NEW PATH TO PROSPERITY
Authors:Moore, Stephen; Grimm, Tyler
Abstract:The article discusses the concept of the end of American capitalism since the wake of the country's economic downturn in 2008. The authors claim that even before the downturn, the country never actually had a free-market capitalism. They describe the economic system as a mixed-economy as almost every private sector is under some degree of government regulation. They also claim that the economic failure was primarily caused by the government and not the markets.
7. Title:FREEDOM AND EQUALITY IN MARKET EXCHANGE: SOME NATURAL LAW REFLECTIONS
Authors: Tollefsen, Christopher
Abstract:The author discusses how the natural law applies to the freedom and equality in market exchange. He states that natural law is essential to the well-being of every individual and it helps them interact well with other people for the common good. He also explains the natural law justification for a free enterprise and the natural law understanding of the moral norm that governs it. He adds that both freedom and equality are important to the natural law aspect of the market.
8. Title:THE CONSTITUTION AND ITS MORAL WARNINGS
Authors:Arkes, Hadley
Abstract:The article discusses the connection between law and moral judgment and the U.S. Constitution as it explores the country's economic downturn. It states that the economic crisis has grown to proportion because people in high public office were no longer attentive to the moral cautions of the provisions in the Constitution. It adds that the people no longer have a clear sense of distinction between legality and morality.
9. Title:THE FINANCIAL CRISIS: MORAL FAILURE OR COGNITIVE FAILURE?
Authors: Kling, Arnold
Abstract:This may be our first epistemologically-driven depression. (Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that deals with the nature and limits of knowledge, with how we know what we think we know.) That is, a large role was played by the failure of the private and corporate actors to understand what they were doing. Most heads of ailing or deceased financial institutions did not comprehend the degree of risk and exposure entailed by the dealings of their underlings--and many investors, including municipalities and pension funds, bought financial instruments without understanding the risks involved.
10. Title:THE CASE AGAINST THE FISCAL STIMULUS
Authors: Miron, Jeffrey.
Abstract:The author offers his thoughts on the fiscal stimulus by U.S. President Obama and his administration to address the country's economic recession. He states that such move was controversial because fiscal policy is considered less suitable than monetary policy and the country was already facing a dissatisfying fiscal outlook with programs like Medicare and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He argues that the administration used the crisis to channel resources to favor certain groups including unions, the green lobby and public education.
11. Title:CUMULATING POLICY CONSEQUENCES, FRIGHTENED OVER-
REACTIONS, AND THE CURRENT SURGE OF GOVERNMENT'S SIZE, SCOPE, AND POWER
Authors:Higgs, Robert
Abstract:The article discusses the policy consequences and the surge in the U.S. government's scope and power as a result of the economic crisis in 2008. It states that the crisis has made the government's actions and response in many ways unprecedented. It also argues that the crisis came from the government itself in its homeownership policies and in the mismanagement of the Federal Reserve System of interest rates and money stock. It claims that in the midst of the situation, the government is expected to increase in its present size, scope and power.
12. Title:ANTITRUST IN AN ERA OF MARKET FAILURE
Authors:Devlin, Alan
Abstract:The author discusses the concept of antitrust law in the event of a market failure in the U.S. and its possible revision following the country's financial meltdown. He states that antitrust law understands the market where monopoly conditions attract capital which results to greater competition, lower prices and social welfare. He says that U.S. antitrust law offered a narrow but long-term efficiency goal but explicitly relies on price theory. He claims however that the financial crisis predicament suggested shift in the antitrust policy.
13. Title:FACILITATING ECONOMIC RECOVERY AND SUSTAINABLE GROWTH THROUGH REFORM OF THE SECURITIES CLASS-ACTION SYSTEM: EXPLORING ARBITRATION AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO LITIGATION
Authors: Bondi, Bradley J.
Abstract:The article discusses the reforms and efforts being done by policymakers around the world following the global economic collapse in 2008. It states that policymakers are focusing on regulations that would reduce systemic risk in the economic framework. The article also cautions policymakers in regulating against the unpredictable disasters which it argues, if done improperly, can lead to stop economic growth. It suggests that policymakers should avoid over-regulating and must facilitate capital formation and encourage investment.
14. Title:THE DISTORTING INCENTIVES FACING THE U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Authors: Macey, Jonathan R.
Abstract:The article highlights the incentives in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and how these can influence the institution's policies. The author argues that the SEC's lack of success results from the way that staff members respond to three sets of endogenous activities, including approval from the Congress and the public and its transformation to lawyers dominating the agency. He also says that the bureaucrats at the commission act just like everybody else but claims few have been accused of bad public policies.
15. Title:THE REDUCTION OF SYSTEMIC RISK IN THE UNITED STATES FINANCIAL SYSTEM
Authors: Scott, Hal S.
Abstract:The article offers information on the recommendations submitted by the Committee on Capital Markets regulation (CCMR) related to the financial crisis in the U.S. in 2007 to 2009. It states that the main theme of the report, aside from its other recommendations for implementing legislation, is to reduce the systemic risk. It explains that systemic risk puts the other financial institutions at risk at the event of failure of one significant institutions due to their linkages to each other including interbank deposits and net settlement payment systems.
16. Title:THE SCANDAL BENEATH THE FINANCIAL CRISIS: GETTING A VIEW FROM A MORAL-CULTURAL MENTAL MODEL
Authors: Jackson, Kevin T
Abstract:The article discusses the financial predicament in the U.S. through the amoral and moral points of view. He suggests to go beyond the mere discussing of terminology ascribed at the economic downturn whether it's a recession or a depression. He states that a moral-cultural view of the situation reveals a moral-cultural malaise and says that promulgating new laws and regulations to address the economic conditions leaves the responsibility to the legal authorities. He argues that the approach is not enough but suggests to go and adopt a moral-cultural mode.
17. Title:DOES THE STATE CREATE THE MARKET--AND SHOULD IT PURSUE EFFICIENCY?
Authors: Sandefur, Timothy
Abstract:The article discusses the economic downturn that hit the U.S. in late 2008 which the author believes it led many to consider to end the free market concept. He states that the error is the common notion instigated by both leftists and rightists that government creates markets and therefore must manage and control individual economic decisions. He argues that the government does not create the free-market system but instead it opens up opportunity and encourages competition.
18. Title:INTELLECTUAL HAZARD: HOW CONCEPTUAL BIASES IN COMPLEX ORGANIZATIONS CONTRIBUTED TO THE CRISIS OF 2008
Authors: Miller, Geoffrey P.; Rosenfeld, Gerald
Abstract:The article discusses intellectual hazard as an unrecognized systemic risk in financial markets and how it contributed to the crisis in 2008. It states that intellectual hazard impairs the acquisition, analysis and communication of information between the organization and external parties. It says intellectual hazard gives tendency to being bias that interfere with accurate thought and analysis within complex organizations. The article also offers recommendations for reforms that might help address intellectual property hazard conceptual biases.
19. Title:PUBLICITY RIGHTS, FALSE ENDORSEMENT, AND THE EFFECTIVE PROTECTION OF PRIVATE PROPERTY
Authors: Cooper, Michael A.
Abstract:The article discusses publicity rights and how it protects private property and its commercial value. It states that publicity rights provide social benefit to an individual's name but there are concerns emerging including the devaluation of wealthier individuals' claims for protection and the failure of the complex test to provide enough predictability. It adds that the intellectual property to exploit a well-known reputation commercially is susceptible as its value is embedded in public perceptions and can easily be damaged by unwanted associations.
20. Title:AN INTERPRETIVE FRAMEWORK FOR NARROWER IMMUNITY UNDER SECTION 230 OF THE COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT
Authors:Dickinson, Gregory M.
Abstract:The article offers information on the Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (CDA). It states that Section 230 has been designed with two foremost objectives including to protect children from Internet pornography and to promote freedom of expression. It adds that Section 230 provides immunity to websites and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) from defamation liability on defamatory content created by third parties. It also claims that the courts have adopted a broad view of the Section and tried to apply and interpret it.
21. Title:PUNISHMENT AND STUDENT SPEECH: STRAINING THE REACH OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT
Authors: Ianelli, James F.
Abstract:The article discusses that Avery Doninger, a high school student, was barred from running for a position on the student council as a result of her action when she referred to school officials as douchebags on her private blog. It states that Doninger challenged the school's decision in court claiming that the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protected her speech. But the U.S. Connecticut District Court rejected her claims and ruled that the school has the right to suppress her uncivil and offensive speech.