Reform of European Merger Policy

The paper highlights the main drivers for merger policy reform in the European Union, including the consequences of the recent appeal court reverses. It discusses some of the substantive and procedural issues that the reform package should address, and outlines the reforms in progress. The author concludes that much of the reform package will be beneficial, but some important opportunities have been missed in this inevitably patchwork process.     

Adam Smith and Noneconomic Objectives

This note looks at Smith's critiques of bounties (read “subsidies”) on exports. Smith's analysis of bounties foreshadowed the basic trade policy framework of distortions and noneconomic objectives. While Smith did not develop the theory of distortions, he captured the logic of the theory of noneconomic objectives and actually ranked policy alternatives based upon their relative social costs. Corden (1957 ) first ranked tariffs versus production subsidies within a noneconomic objectives framework, and Johnson (1960 ) first used the term in its modern sense, but the formulation of the general framework lies with Smith.     

Organic constitutions and common law

Constitutions may be viewed as purely political instruments developed by wise and strong leaders and imposed on a loosely organized society. The alternate view taken in this paper sees a nation's constitution as being rooted in the norms of individuals that form communities and states. Constitutions grow from within; they are not imposed from outside. The history of constitutional development in England is part and parcel of the history of Common Law, which growing informally from small groups finally encompassed the nation-state to form a basis for constitutional government. The integrity of the law was rooted in the integrity of the individuals that formed the constitutional community. Alumni Professor of Economics, Clemson University. The author expresses appreciation to anonymous referees of this journal and to Liberty Fund, Inc. for supporting a conference during which the ideas for this paper were formed. He acknowledges an intellectual debt owed to Robert Staaf for ideas reflected in this paper.     

The baby boom, the baby bust, and the housing market A second look

I re-examine Mankiw-Weil's (MW) claim that house prices will fall 47% by 2007. MW argue that the arrival of the Baby Boom generation at adulthood drove up prices during the 1970s. When the beginnings of the Baby Bust generation matured in the 1980s, prices softened. When this generation arrives in earnest, prices will collapse. I make three points: (1) The regression upon which MW hang their prediction has an implausible -8.1% trend, which drives their prediction. (2) Demand directly influences the rental price; the asset price (MW's variable) is influenced by demand only indirectly. I re-run MW's regression, replacing the asset price with the rental price, and their prediction disappears. (3) Relying on data presented by MW, I show that housing consumption rose during the 1970s, after adjusting for income growth. Just when MW say the asset price of housing was rising, consumers behaved as if the price were falling. Consumers were right: The rental price fell by approximately 20% during the 1970s.     

Initial Public Offerings: CFO Perceptions

We examine four issues pertaining to initial public offerings (IPOs) using a survey of 438 chief financial officers (CFOs). First, why do firms go public? Second, is CFO sentiment stationary across bear and bull markets? Third, what concerns CFOs about going public? Fourth, do CFO perceptions correlate with returns? Results support funding for growth and liquidity as the primary reasons for IPOs. CFO sentiment is generally stationary in pre‐ and post‐bubble years. Managers are concerned with the direct costs of going public, such as underwriting fees, as well as indirect costs. We find a negative relation between a focus on immediate growth and long‐term abnormal returns.