That's how much nuclear waste is hanging around the U.S. — a good bit of it in Illinois — with no feasible solution in sight that would provide long-term (or even middle-term), safe storage. The waste is comprised of spent fuel from nuclear reactors. As this report by Brian Wingfield explains: With no place to […]
by Deepak Gupta On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. His killing sparked a fresh round of riots in cities nationwide. Nearly two dozen representatives immediately changed positions and urged passage of the Fair Housing Act. Within a week, with […]
Earlier this month, we noted a significant Fourth Circuit class action decision (Scott v. Family Dollar) permitting the plaintiffs to amend their complaint with allegations that could qualify them for class action treatment within the rules set forth by the Supreme Court in Wal-Mart v. Dukes. Here's a different take: the U.S. Chamber of Commerce […]
Over two years ago, we posted a link to an opinion piece by former Senator Christopher Dodd, which responded to common criticisms of the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation, including the criticism that the law's allegedly excessive regulation will harm small, "community" banks. Now, law professor Tanya Marsh and Joseph Norman have written The Impact of […]
For years now, some people wanting the U.S. to trim "entitlement" costs have, among other things, proposed raising the age at which non-disabled people become eligible for Medicare. The current eligibility age is 65. (Disabled people generally are eligible for Medicare two years after they become eligible for federal disability benefits.) Early last year, the […]
This article by Jennifer Haberkorn says that delaying implementation of the Affordable Care Act is not as easy as bumping things back a few days on the calendar. Insurance companies would raise a ruckus because they set their prices based on customers enrolling before April. The Obama administration doesn’t want to push the successful enrollment […]
Wayne Barnes of Texas A&M has wrtiten Social Media and the Rise in Consumer Bargaining Power,14 U. Pa. J. Bus. L. 661 (2012). Here's the abstract: Consumers are constantly entering into form contracts, both offline and online. They do not read most of the terms, but the duty to read says the contracts are nevertheless […]
Robert C. Hockett of Cornell and John Vlahoplus of Mortgage Resolution Partners have written A Federalist Blessing in Disguise: From National Inaction to Local Action on Underwater Mortgages, 7 Harvard Law & Policy Review (2013). Here is the abstract: While it is widely recognized that the mortgage debt overhang left by the housing price bubble […]
by Jeff Sovern I frequently post links to scholars' articles on consumer law issues, including pieces by George Mason's Todd J. Zywicki, like this one. The Nation recently published a piece reporting on professors who also work for Wall Street-funded operations without disclosing that in, as The Nation put it, their "university profile, CV, byline […]
We have covered the question whether self-driving cars would benefit consumers by making driving easier and reducing injuries and deaths from crashes. California has enacted legislation setting up a framework for the regulation of self-driving cars in that state. At the federal level, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration announced a new policy in late […]