Professor Bainbridge...on law, politics, religion, culture & food
Law & Business
Shareholder access again—updated
Over at TheCorporateCounsel.net Blog, Broc blogs on the latest development in the shareholder access saga:Readers of WSJ might have noticed a full-page advertisement on Thursday by a group of investors calling for the SEC to adopt a shareholder access rule. This …Continue Reading...
Comparing Tyco’s Kozlowski and Deutsche Bank’s Ackermann
There is an interesting parallel set of prosecutions going on in the US and Germany. In the latter, the WSJ (sub. req'd) is reporting that Deutsche Bank CEO Josef Ackermann (and some other supervisory board members of Mannesmann AG) have been …Continue Reading...
Yes, the insiders are selling. But should you?
The headline of a NY Times article poses the titular question. Heavy insider selling is usually thought to be a bearish signal. The Times, however, relies on work by Nejat Seyhun, a finance professor at the University of Michigan to suggest …Continue Reading...
Reed to cut NYSE board
The WSJ (sub. req'd) is reporting that interim chief John Reed "favors much smaller boards [that the NYSE's current 27 members] as being more effective." He's right that a smaller board will be more effective, for reasons I have blogged previously. …Continue Reading...
More on behavioral economics
The new Law and Economics Blog criticizes my post Behavioral Economic Analysis of Law:An uninformed reader would be greatly mislead in reading Professor Bainbridge's broad based criticism of legal decision theory, backed by what is simply a critique of one of …Continue Reading...
BusinessPundit on business ethics
The BusinessPundit has an interesting post on business ethics:If the only way you can stay in business is by lying, cheating, and manipulating your books, then you are a lousy capitalist and you will eventually get what is coming to you. …Continue Reading...
Who was the Greatest US Supreme Justice? A Corporate/Securities Law Perspective
I was recently given a copy of Bernard Schwartz's entertaining book, A Book of Legal Lists, which includes lists of both the 10 greatest and 10 worst US supreme court justices. Those chapters reminded me of an article I wrote with …Continue Reading...
Guttman v. Huang: Del VC Strine on audit committee due care standards
In recent years, increasing regulatory attention has been devoted to the role of the audit committee. In 1999, the major stock exchanges adopted new listing standards (after being prodded by then-SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt in a classic example of how the …Continue Reading...
Wine & Food
Star reviews
Most of the wines reviewed here were purchased by me, but a number of wineries are sending me free samples to review. Reviews of the latter wines are indicated by an asterisk in the title. Wineries wishing to submit wines for …Continue Reading...
Wine grades
Regular readers will note that I have finally given in to repeated requests and started including grades in my wine reviews. The grades are based on the standard letter grade system with which we are familiar. I went with this system …Continue Reading...
Calistoga AVA?
The Wine Spectator Online is reporting on a push for a new Calistoga AVA:Napa Valley is already divided into 13 subappellations, but the Calistoga area -- although as well-known nowadays for its Cabernets as for its hot springs -- is not …Continue Reading...
Pine Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford 2000
I picked up a case of this wine last spring when we visited the Napa Valley. Fortunately, a Wine Spectator tasting note (subscription req'd) warned me that: "Intensity tails off on the finish, making this a good bet for near-term consumption." …Continue Reading...
Hitching Post Pinot Noir Santa Barbara County 2000
The Hitching Post is a steakhouse in Buellton, CA, that runs a winery on the side. Or, maybe it's the other way around. Either way, they do a great job. HP is a pinor noir specialist, with a number of istinct …Continue Reading...
Taylor Fladgate First Estate Port NV; Cockburn Special Reserve Port NV
The Taylor Fladgate is a vintage character port I have had quite frequently. A deep impenetrable black-purple even at the rim. A hot, rustic nose of stewed fruits. Raisins and cigarettes on the palate. Sweet, but decent acidity to balance it. …Continue Reading...
Villa Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva 2000
Medium deep purple shading to ruby-red at the edge; not yet showing the typical Chianti orange-amber rim. Classic Chianti floral nose. Smooth tannins, strong acidity, medium body. Dried black fruits, oriental spice, earth, and leather. Doesn't yet have the barnyard element …Continue Reading...
Dow 20 Year Old Tawny Port NV
I love Port. Back in the days before Usenet was all spam all the time I was a regular player in the rec.food.drink newsgroup and even went so far as to do a Port FAQ. At that time, my regular post-dinner …Continue Reading...
Punditry
More insider trading news
Several of my fellow corporate law blawggers have been writing about the case of attorney Arthur K. Bartlett who recently disgorged the whopping sum of $4,272 (plus $71 in prejudgment interest) and also paid a $4,272 civil penalty under ITSA. Corp …Continue Reading...
Ribstein on movies about business and why Hollywood hates capitalists
My friend University of Illinois law professor Larry Ribstein is best known as the leading expert on unincorporated business associations and a stalwart defender of the nexus of contracts theory of the firm. It turns out, however, that he is also …Continue Reading...
Field conservatives in So Cal academy
Following up on the blogosphere brouhaha over David Brooks' NY Times article on conservatives in the academy, my friend Tom Smith has a provocative post over at The Right Coast on the difference between house and field conservatives:Brooks is a house …Continue Reading...
Coming clean for my readers: “What kind of conservative are you?”
After writing the prior post, I decided to have some fun. (It was either that or go tackle the ton of decorative rocks the good wife wants placed decoratively in the backyard.) So I Googled the following phrase: "what kind of …Continue Reading...
Conservatives in academia
In today's NY Times, newly-hired token conservative David Brooks writes of the absence of conservatives in the academy. The factual premise -- that libertarians and conservatives are under-represented on college and university campuses -- seems undeniable:During the mid-1990's, for example, Professor …Continue Reading...
The Recall and the Economy: Arnold Schwarzenegger in the WSJ
As part of our continuing coverage of the business and economic aspects of the California recall, we note that tomorrow's WSJ will include an op-ed by Arnold Schwarzenegger in which he does quite a nice job of diagnosing what's wrong with …Continue Reading...
Jeff Cooper on Iraqi Privatization
Jeff Cooper blogs at Cooped Up on news reports that "the Iraqi Governing Council is moving ahead with plans to privatize Iraq's state-owned industries":Given the still-persistent effects of three decades of Ba'athist rule, there are really only two groups, at this …Continue Reading...
Daniel Drezner on John Edwards
Daniel Drener blogs on John Edwards:Whatever the merits of Wesley Clark's decision to seek the Democratic nomination for President, Clark did succed in one area -- hogging the spotlight from John Edwards' formal announcement that he was also seeking the nomination. …Continue Reading...