by Brian Wolfman The President campaigned emphatically on a tax plan that would raise taxes for people making more than $250,000. He was equally emphatic that he would not abide a tax bill that would raise taxes on middle-income working families. He said this many times. Democrats made the same point: We can't let the […]
That's the name of this brand-new 344-page ebook on public debt in the United States edited by Franklin Allen, Anna Gelpern, Charles Mooney, and David Skeel. The book contains 15 articles on the public debt, including one called "Origins of the Fiscal Constitution" by Michael McConnell, a couple articles on the U.S. government's capacity to […]
In fact, there were fewer airline crashes involving passengers — 11 — than in any year since 1945. Read about it here.
James P. Nehf of Indiana University has written Open Book: The Failed Promise of Information Privacy in America. Here's the abstract: With financial and other personal information about us in countless databases, and with companies such as Facebook and Google collecting data about their users to drive profits and satisfy expectations of shareholders, there is […]
by Brian Wolfman The FDA has issued two proposed rules to implement the Food Saftey Modernization Act enacted in 2011. Check out the FDA's home page for the new rules. The law seeks to do more to prevent food borne illness. The first new rule concerns controls for human food and is aimed at the […]
by Maura Dundon, Senior Policy Counsel, Center for Responsible Lending Military consumers get a federal private right of action Recent amendments to the Military Lending Act (aka the Talent Amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act) provide a rare, new private right of action for military consumers—but the effectiveness of the potentially broad-sweeping Act still […]
The LA Times's David Lazurus says in this article that the large-sounding corporate criminal penalties — like recent ones against Glaxo for off-label drug promotion and against BP for conduct that led to the Gulf oil spill — aren't enough to deter and that some corporate criminals should spend time behind bars. Here's an excerpt: If […]
by Jeff Sovern The Wall Street Journal has the story here. Previously the grade had been outstanding. The other three giant US banks retain ratings of outstanding. Two thoughts: If JP Morgan Chase undertakes new lending to improve its rating, that will say something about the importance of the Community Reinvestment Act in spurring banks […]
John E. Campbell of Denver has created a video on the mortgage crisis. Here's the abstract (yes, there's an abstract): Before becoming a law professor, much of my work was as a litigator and appellate attorney. I became increasingly passionate about the problems that exist in the mortgage industry. I also became increasingly aware that […]