April 4, 2025
Why Trump’s FTC Firings Matter—Even If They’re Legal
President Donald Trump fired two Democratic commissioners from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) last Tuesday, a move that raises important questions about the independence of regulatory agencies. If challenged in court—something the commissioners say they will do—the outcome could set a major precedent regarding presidential authority over supposedly independent agencies. Legally, this issue is murky….
April 3, 2025
How Virologists Lost the Gain-of-Function Debate
For years, scientists kept the debate about risky virus research among themselves. Then Covid happened. As President Trump prepares to crack down on virology research, the expert community must face up to its own failures. Read the full essay in The New Atlantis.
April 3, 2025
Eight Pathways to Overcome Vetocracy and Unlock Abundance
The recent release of Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson has brought much needed attention to the problem of sclerotic government, especially vetocracy. Vetocracy is an emergent property of institutions where excessive veto points create systemic gridlock, manifested through: While at times imperfect, here are eight practical solutions to overcome this challenge. 1. Refactor…
April 2, 2025
Free Speech Tradeoffs and Roleplaying Chatbots: Sacrificing the Rights of Many to Safeguard a Few?
First Amendment law entails tradeoffs. Consider Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, a case the US Supreme Court heard in January. It involves an online age-verification statute that ostensibly is designed to prevent minors from accessing sexually explicit content that Texas deems harmful to them but that is not obscene (and thus is constitutionally protected) when…
April 1, 2025
The Supreme Court Seems Unlikely to Revive Nondelegation Doctrine in FCC Case
Earlier this month, I previewed the arguments in Federal Communications Commission v Consumers’ Research. The case asks the Supreme Court whether the FCC’s Universal Service Fund (USF) violates the nondelegation doctrine, which prohibits Congress from delegating the legislative power to executive branch agencies. As my previous post explains, nondelegation is a largely toothless doctrine, mostly…
April 1, 2025
Another Courtroom Loss for AI Creations, as “Automatoners” Prevail Again
Last month, a federal appeals court confirmed what most legal regimes around the world—patent offices, administrative judges, and even supreme courts—have long held: Machines cannot themselves create. Readers of this space are by now hopefully well acquainted with the fierce divisions between autonomists—those who contend that artificial intelligence (AI) is now or will soon become…
March 28, 2025
Generative AI: The Emerging Coworker Transforming Teams
Artificial intelligence (AI) is likely to transform workplaces, fundamentally changing tasks, teamwork, and organizational dynamics. Several recent studies highlight promising early findings about how AI is affecting knowledge workers, suggesting it can actively collaborate with humans to enhance interactions and capabilities across various professions. The first study, conducted by researchers from Harvard, Wharton, and Procter…
March 26, 2025
Return of the Landline: A Regressive or Welcome Scenario?
If there has been one inexorable trend in the telecommunications industry over the past 30 years, it has been the decline of the household landline phone connection. While Figure 1 illustrates the case for the United States, the phenomenon is worldwide. The humble landline, with its single function and tethered to a single fixed location has given…
March 26, 2025
DOJ’s Baseless Lawsuit Against HPE and Juniper Hurts Consumers
In the waning days of the Biden administration, a flurry of regulatory activity sought to cement policies that would be difficult for President Trump to unwind. New trade and labor agreements, expanded spending commitments, and a slew of regulations were pushed through, ensuring that Trump’s administration would be forced to navigate legal and bureaucratic obstacles to implement its agenda. Did Biden’s antitrust enforcers…
March 25, 2025
The Press Clause’s Disputed Meaning and Its Implications for Trump-Era Journalism
A burgeoning battle among academics and attorneys involving a centuries-old communications technology––the printing press––could impact journalists’ current claims to constitutional protection against President Trump’s ceaseless attacks on news organizations. Indeed, the dispute might profoundly affect lawsuits such as Associated Press v. Budowich in which a wire service is fighting to restore its press-credentialed access to…