Copyright Expert Finds Copyright Law Too Depressing to Blog About
Reported here. William Patry, veteran copyright lawyer, author of Patry on Copyright, and now Google in-house lawyer, apparently realizes how messed up copyright law is:
Lower Labor Costs Now!
Job instability is the number one factor that leads to public panic. It is more pressing than stock-price declines, general price increases, and a host of other bad trends, because it hits people in the most direct way by threatening to end the flow of money that puts bread on the table. Don’t blame the employers. They are faced with making cutbacks wherever possible. They have to worry about surviving in the downturn. It is not only labor costs that must be cut. Cutbacks must occur in every area.
Wacky WSJ Solutions to the Housing Mess
This week, the Wall Street Journal’s Holman Jenkins returned to his hobby horse of propping up housing prices by having the federal government pay for the destruction of houses. ($ article)
The Fiscal Issues: Tax and Deficit Finance
When and Why the Credit Crisis Began
One year after the beginning of the modern credit crisis, Randall Forsyth , writing in Barrons, provides an fine round-up of what caused this mess to begin with. His theory is that the problems began when statistical modeling of mortgages replaced old-fashioned credit reports when it came to valuing mortgage loans.
Wage Fallacies Again
The BBC reports that the government will ban employers from counting tips as part of the minimum wage. This “will benefit those working in industries such as restaurants.”
Current Topics in Economic Policy
Career Strategy for Austrians
The Real Cost of a Full Bailout
A recent study from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has zero credibility. It pegged likely taxpayer losses in the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bailouts at $25 billion. For those with a sense of history, it is worth remembering that the S&L bailout had a $160 billion price tag. The numbers diverge so far from reality as to be laugh-out-loud funny. Funny, that is, except that the CBO estimate demonstrates a willful disconnect with the actual consequences of federal government actions. The real cost of the bailouts could easily exceed $1.3 trillion.
Regret: The Glory of State Law
Techdirt notes in CAFC Judge Regrets Decisions That Resulted In Software Patents that one of the federal judges on the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit admits that he was “troubled by the unintended consequences” of the earlier decisions that resulted in the proliferation of software and business model patents. Well at least he regrets it!
