In earlier work, we created Congressional common space scores for multiple state legislatures using bridge actors who served in both institutions. Here, we employ simulations to explore the general issues involved in bridging institutions in data-sparse environments, where only a few bridge actors exist to allow inter-institutional comparisons. We find that only a few such bridges are necessary to improve ideal point estimates of rescaled legislative chambers.
{"title":"Methodological Issues in Bridging Ideal Points in Disparate Institutions in a Data Sparse Environment","authors":"Boris Shor, N. McCarty, Christopher R. Berry","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.1746582","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1746582","url":null,"abstract":"In earlier work, we created Congressional common space scores for multiple state legislatures using bridge actors who served in both institutions. Here, we employ simulations to explore the general issues involved in bridging institutions in data-sparse environments, where only a few bridge actors exist to allow inter-institutional comparisons. We find that only a few such bridges are necessary to improve ideal point estimates of rescaled legislative chambers.","PeriodicalId":166493,"journal":{"name":"Legislation & Statutory Interpretation eJournal","volume":"39 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115532486","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper examines the recent approach of the High Court in Australia to interpreting the Copyright Act 1968, and in particular the role and the usefulness of legislative context in that interpretation.There is no doubt that copyright law is complex. There is also little doubt that it has become increasingly complex both in its application and its terms, since the 1968 Act came into effect in Australia. The law is required to operate in a fast changing environment and one in which there are many divergent interests at stake. At the same time, the courts’ approach to statutory interpretation has changed in recent years, with a renewed focus on context. Despite this judicial mandate to use context in interpreting legislation, there are many problems in its effect. First, the law making process is one which is, at times, shrouded in mystery as to its process and lack of clarity about the policy behind the law. This context or the purpose or object of the statute, can be impossible to ascertain. Law making involves several stages, all of which have the potential to give rise to distort or obscure the purpose or context of the law and these are considered in part one of this article. In part two, the recent approach of the High Court of Australia in determining context in copyright law will be considered. Suggestions will be made for reform which could improve the availability of reliable context to assist the courts in statutory interpretation.
{"title":"Context or Chaos: Statutory Interpretation and the Australian Copyright Act","authors":"Maree Sainsbury","doi":"10.1093/SLR/HMQ014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/SLR/HMQ014","url":null,"abstract":"This paper examines the recent approach of the High Court in Australia to interpreting the Copyright Act 1968, and in particular the role and the usefulness of legislative context in that interpretation.There is no doubt that copyright law is complex. There is also little doubt that it has become increasingly complex both in its application and its terms, since the 1968 Act came into effect in Australia. The law is required to operate in a fast changing environment and one in which there are many divergent interests at stake. At the same time, the courts’ approach to statutory interpretation has changed in recent years, with a renewed focus on context. Despite this judicial mandate to use context in interpreting legislation, there are many problems in its effect. First, the law making process is one which is, at times, shrouded in mystery as to its process and lack of clarity about the policy behind the law. This context or the purpose or object of the statute, can be impossible to ascertain. Law making involves several stages, all of which have the potential to give rise to distort or obscure the purpose or context of the law and these are considered in part one of this article. In part two, the recent approach of the High Court of Australia in determining context in copyright law will be considered. Suggestions will be made for reform which could improve the availability of reliable context to assist the courts in statutory interpretation.","PeriodicalId":166493,"journal":{"name":"Legislation & Statutory Interpretation eJournal","volume":"26 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-01-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116138053","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In July of 2010 Congress enacted the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (the “Dodd Frank Act”). The Dodd Frank Act is the primary legislative response in the United States to the financial crisis of 2007-09. It makes wide-ranging and significant changes to a number of aspects of financial services regulation. This article examines the eight most significant initiatives undertaken in the Dodd Frank Act; initiatives which are intended to avoid the next financial crisis, to give regulators the tools to deal with a future crisis when it occurs and to substantially increase the levels of protection provided to U.S. consumers of financial services. The Act creates a new Financial Stability Oversight Council with the broad responsibility to anticipate and to take measures to avoid the next financial crisis. It gives to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation the authority to liquidate very large financial services companies in an orderly manner in the event they fail. It creates a new National Insurance Office in the Department of the Treasury to provide limited oversight of our state-regulated insurance industry and, more importantly, to collect information on the risk to the U.S. financial system generated by the failure of the largest insurance companies. It provides for more intensive and effective regulation of credit rating agencies, overseen by a new Office of Credit Ratings at the Securities and Exchange Commission. It imposes registration requirements on hedge fund advisers and provides a process for collecting information on the risks posed to the U.S. financial system by the investment activities of hedge funds. It mandates significant new regulation at the Commodities Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission over the trading of derivatives, requiring exchange-based trading for some classes of derivatives and for transparency in the trading of customized derivatives not suitable for exchanges. It requires a variety of corporate governance reforms for publicly traded companies, including a “say on pay” (a shareholders’ advisory vote on executive compensation plans), increased disclosures to shareholders, independent board compensation committees and consultants, and board risk committees for large financial services companies. Finally, it creates a major new agency, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, located in the Federal Reserve System with significant powers to protect consumers in their purchases of a broad range of financial products. Each of these eight initiatives undertaken in Dodd Frank is complex and dependent to a significant degree on the promulgation of regulations for its implementation. It remains to be seen if these regulations will reflect the spirit of Dodd Frank’s ambitious and serious approach to avoiding or, at least, to providing the tools to survive the next financial crisis. This article offers a summary and some comments on the Dodd Frank initiatives outlined
2010年7月,国会颁布了《2010年华尔街改革和消费者保护法案》(“多德-弗兰克法案”)。《多德-弗兰克法案》是美国对2007-09年金融危机的主要立法反应。它对金融服务监管的许多方面进行了广泛而重大的改革。本文考察了《多德-弗兰克法案》中最重要的八项举措;这些举措旨在避免下一次金融危机,为监管机构提供应对未来危机的工具,并大幅提高对美国金融服务消费者的保护水平。该法案创建了一个新的金融稳定监督委员会,其广泛职责是预测并采取措施避免下一次金融危机。它赋予联邦存款保险公司在大型金融服务公司破产时有序清算的权力。它在财政部设立了一个新的国家保险办公室,对我们国家监管的保险业提供有限的监督,更重要的是,收集有关大型保险公司倒闭给美国金融体系带来风险的信息。它规定对信用评级机构进行更密集、更有效的监管,由证券交易委员会(sec)新成立的信用评级办公室(Office of credit Ratings)监督。它对对冲基金顾问提出了注册要求,并提供了一个收集对冲基金投资活动对美国金融体系构成风险的信息的程序。它要求美国商品期货交易委员会(cftc)和美国证券交易委员会(sec)对衍生品交易进行重要的新监管,要求某些衍生品的交易基于交易所,并要求不适合在交易所进行的定制衍生品交易具有透明度。它要求对上市公司进行各种公司治理改革,包括“薪酬话语权”(股东对高管薪酬计划的咨询投票),增加对股东、独立董事会薪酬委员会和顾问的披露,以及大型金融服务公司的董事会风险委员会。最后,它创建了一个重要的新机构——消费者金融保护局(Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection),该机构位于联邦储备系统(Federal Reserve System)内,拥有重要的权力来保护消费者购买各种金融产品。《多德-弗兰克法案》中的这八项举措都很复杂,在很大程度上依赖于为实施这些举措而颁布的法规。这些规定是否会反映出《多德-弗兰克法案》雄心勃勃、严肃认真的精神,以避免或至少提供渡过下一次金融危机的工具,还有待观察。本文对上述多德-弗兰克法案提出了一个总结和一些评论。《多德-弗兰克法案》的最终效果将在很大程度上取决于美国金融监管机构如何实施该法案。
{"title":"The Financial Crisis and the Response of the United States: Will Dodd Frank Protect Us from the Next Crisis?","authors":"David P. Cluchey","doi":"10.2139/SSRN.1831661","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/SSRN.1831661","url":null,"abstract":"In July of 2010 Congress enacted the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (the “Dodd Frank Act”). The Dodd Frank Act is the primary legislative response in the United States to the financial crisis of 2007-09. It makes wide-ranging and significant changes to a number of aspects of financial services regulation. This article examines the eight most significant initiatives undertaken in the Dodd Frank Act; initiatives which are intended to avoid the next financial crisis, to give regulators the tools to deal with a future crisis when it occurs and to substantially increase the levels of protection provided to U.S. consumers of financial services. The Act creates a new Financial Stability Oversight Council with the broad responsibility to anticipate and to take measures to avoid the next financial crisis. It gives to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation the authority to liquidate very large financial services companies in an orderly manner in the event they fail. It creates a new National Insurance Office in the Department of the Treasury to provide limited oversight of our state-regulated insurance industry and, more importantly, to collect information on the risk to the U.S. financial system generated by the failure of the largest insurance companies. It provides for more intensive and effective regulation of credit rating agencies, overseen by a new Office of Credit Ratings at the Securities and Exchange Commission. It imposes registration requirements on hedge fund advisers and provides a process for collecting information on the risks posed to the U.S. financial system by the investment activities of hedge funds. It mandates significant new regulation at the Commodities Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission over the trading of derivatives, requiring exchange-based trading for some classes of derivatives and for transparency in the trading of customized derivatives not suitable for exchanges. It requires a variety of corporate governance reforms for publicly traded companies, including a “say on pay” (a shareholders’ advisory vote on executive compensation plans), increased disclosures to shareholders, independent board compensation committees and consultants, and board risk committees for large financial services companies. Finally, it creates a major new agency, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, located in the Federal Reserve System with significant powers to protect consumers in their purchases of a broad range of financial products. Each of these eight initiatives undertaken in Dodd Frank is complex and dependent to a significant degree on the promulgation of regulations for its implementation. It remains to be seen if these regulations will reflect the spirit of Dodd Frank’s ambitious and serious approach to avoiding or, at least, to providing the tools to survive the next financial crisis. This article offers a summary and some comments on the Dodd Frank initiatives outlined","PeriodicalId":166493,"journal":{"name":"Legislation & Statutory Interpretation eJournal","volume":"17 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130068452","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Polish Aviation Law (in Polish: Prawo Lotnicze; hereafter, PL) of 3 July 2002 was amended only once in 2009. The amendment was introduced by the Act on the amendment of the Act on the Provision of services on the territory of the Republic of Poland of 4 March 20101, which entered into force on 10 April 2010. Accordingly, two new provisions were introduced into Polish aviation law: sub-article 1a was inserted into the existing Article 160 PL and a new Article 160a was created. Both insertions specify that the Act on the Provision of services on the territory of the Republic of Poland does not apply to its Aviation Law.
{"title":"Legislative Developments in the Aviation Sector in 2009","authors":"Filip Czernicki","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2296671","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2296671","url":null,"abstract":"The Polish Aviation Law (in Polish: Prawo Lotnicze; hereafter, PL) of 3 July 2002 was amended only once in 2009. The amendment was introduced by the Act on the amendment of the Act on the Provision of services on the territory of the Republic of Poland of 4 March 20101, which entered into force on 10 April 2010. Accordingly, two new provisions were introduced into Polish aviation law: sub-article 1a was inserted into the existing Article 160 PL and a new Article 160a was created. Both insertions specify that the Act on the Provision of services on the territory of the Republic of Poland does not apply to its Aviation Law.","PeriodicalId":166493,"journal":{"name":"Legislation & Statutory Interpretation eJournal","volume":"5 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-12-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114271503","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Researchers and responsible officials have made considerable progress in recent years in efforts to anticipate, plan for, and respond to drought. Some of those efforts are beginning to shift from purely reactive, relief-oriented measures to programs designed to prevent or to mitigate drought impacts. Considerably less attention has been given to laws that may affect practices and policies that either increase or decrease drought vulnerability. Water law regimes, drought response and relief legislation, and laws governing broader but related issues of economic policy—especially agricultural policy—should be evaluated more comprehensively to enhance incentives for more ―water sustainable‖ practices in agriculture and other sectors of the economy. Those changes will be increasingly important if current climate change models are correct in their prediction that many parts of the world can expect more frequent and more severe conditions of meteorological drought in the ensuing decades.
{"title":"Drought, Sustainability, and the Law","authors":"R. Adler","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.1652835","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1652835","url":null,"abstract":"Researchers and responsible officials have made considerable progress in recent years in efforts to anticipate, plan for, and respond to drought. Some of those efforts are beginning to shift from purely reactive, relief-oriented measures to programs designed to prevent or to mitigate drought impacts. Considerably less attention has been given to laws that may affect practices and policies that either increase or decrease drought vulnerability. Water law regimes, drought response and relief legislation, and laws governing broader but related issues of economic policy—especially agricultural policy—should be evaluated more comprehensively to enhance incentives for more ―water sustainable‖ practices in agriculture and other sectors of the economy. Those changes will be increasingly important if current climate change models are correct in their prediction that many parts of the world can expect more frequent and more severe conditions of meteorological drought in the ensuing decades.","PeriodicalId":166493,"journal":{"name":"Legislation & Statutory Interpretation eJournal","volume":"24 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-08-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121593460","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jordi Blanes i Vidal, M. Draca, Christian Fons-Rosen
Washington's 'revolving door' - the movement from government service into the lobbying industry - is regarded as a major concern for policy-making. We study how ex-government staffers benefit from the personal connections acquired during their public service. Lobbyists with experience in the office of a US Senator suffer a 24% drop in generated revenue when that Senator leaves office. The effect is immediate, discontinuous around the exit period and long-lasting. Consistent with the notion that lobbyists sell access to powerful politicians, the drop in revenue is increasing in the seniority of and committee assignments power held by the exiting politician.
{"title":"Revolving Door Lobbyists","authors":"Jordi Blanes i Vidal, M. Draca, Christian Fons-Rosen","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.1641217","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1641217","url":null,"abstract":"Washington's 'revolving door' - the movement from government service into the lobbying industry - is regarded as a major concern for policy-making. We study how ex-government staffers benefit from the personal connections acquired during their public service. Lobbyists with experience in the office of a US Senator suffer a 24% drop in generated revenue when that Senator leaves office. The effect is immediate, discontinuous around the exit period and long-lasting. Consistent with the notion that lobbyists sell access to powerful politicians, the drop in revenue is increasing in the seniority of and committee assignments power held by the exiting politician.","PeriodicalId":166493,"journal":{"name":"Legislation & Statutory Interpretation eJournal","volume":"14 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"117041456","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The government’s reluctance to reform the law of homicide can be observed in both the United Kingdom and Canada. This collection of essays contained within the special issue entitled “Rethinking Canadian Homicide Law” exposes some of the uncertainties in Canadian homicide law. Every article either urges legislative reform to address the ambiguities that exist in Canadian homicide law, or demonstrates the efficacy with which legislative reform can change problematic judicial attitudes. Professor Larry Wilson in his article on the law of manslaughter argues that although the Supreme Court has recently clarified certain issues surrounding this offence, there remains much that needs to be resolved by Parliament. Professor Kent Roach’s article on unlawful object murder demonstrates that legislative inertia surrounding the murder provisions has led to cases overturning murder convictions and ordering new trials because trial judges have left juries with s. 229(c) that still includes an unconstitutional negligence arm. Professor Sanjeev Anand’s article on infanticide outlines a number of unclear aspects concerning the offence/defence and he makes suggestions about the proper interpretation of the infanticide provisions by resorting to a number of means including the legislative history of the provisions. Professor Wayne Renke in his article tackles the subject of provocation head-on by noting that there have been calls for the repeal of the controversial partial defence for condoning and privileging homicidal and often male rage. The article by Professor Isabel Grant makes a connection between substantive law and sentencing law by examining sentencing trends for men who kill their intimate partners. In conclusion, it is hoped that the articles will provide some assistance to both Parliament and the courts as they struggle with the many ambiguities and anachronisms that unfortunately pervade Canadian homicide laws.
{"title":"Inertia, Uncertainty, and Canadian Homicide Law: An Introduction to the Special Issue","authors":"Kent Roach, S. Anand","doi":"10.29173/ALR181","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.29173/ALR181","url":null,"abstract":"The government’s reluctance to reform the law of homicide can be observed in both the United Kingdom and Canada. This collection of essays contained within the special issue entitled “Rethinking Canadian Homicide Law” exposes some of the uncertainties in Canadian homicide law. Every article either urges legislative reform to address the ambiguities that exist in Canadian homicide law, or demonstrates the efficacy with which legislative reform can change problematic judicial attitudes. Professor Larry Wilson in his article on the law of manslaughter argues that although the Supreme Court has recently clarified certain issues surrounding this offence, there remains much that needs to be resolved by Parliament. Professor Kent Roach’s article on unlawful object murder demonstrates that legislative inertia surrounding the murder provisions has led to cases overturning murder convictions and ordering new trials because trial judges have left juries with s. 229(c) that still includes an unconstitutional negligence arm. Professor Sanjeev Anand’s article on infanticide outlines a number of unclear aspects concerning the offence/defence and he makes suggestions about the proper interpretation of the infanticide provisions by resorting to a number of means including the legislative history of the provisions. Professor Wayne Renke in his article tackles the subject of provocation head-on by noting that there have been calls for the repeal of the controversial partial defence for condoning and privileging homicidal and often male rage. The article by Professor Isabel Grant makes a connection between substantive law and sentencing law by examining sentencing trends for men who kill their intimate partners. In conclusion, it is hoped that the articles will provide some assistance to both Parliament and the courts as they struggle with the many ambiguities and anachronisms that unfortunately pervade Canadian homicide laws.","PeriodicalId":166493,"journal":{"name":"Legislation & Statutory Interpretation eJournal","volume":"93 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122968738","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A short note for general reading critically analyzing the amendments made to Information Technology Act, 2000.
一个简短的一般阅读笔记,批判性地分析了2000年信息技术法案的修正案。
{"title":"Amendments to Information Technology Act - Is Legal System Ready to Answer Information Technology","authors":"S. Jayan","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.1587902","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1587902","url":null,"abstract":"A short note for general reading critically analyzing the amendments made to Information Technology Act, 2000.","PeriodicalId":166493,"journal":{"name":"Legislation & Statutory Interpretation eJournal","volume":"57 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-04-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131444104","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Since its inception, the U.S. Federal Reserve’s monetary policies have led to a decline of over 90% in the purchasing power of the U.S. dollar. As a result, there have been several attempts to curtail or eliminate the Federal Reserve’s powers; however, none have proven successful to date, due mainly to the constraints of strong political opposition at the national level.In contrast to these attempts at the national level, this paper proposes an alternative approach to ending the Federal Reserve’s monopoly on money: the “Constitutional Tender Act,” a bill template that can be introduced in every state legislature in the nation, returning each of them to adherence to the U.S. Constitution's “legal tender” provisions of Article I, Section 10. This approach would have a greater likelihood of success for a number of reasons. First, it is decentralized: rather than facing concerted political opposition at a single Federal level, it attacks the issue at the State level, where strategies and tactics can be adapted to the types and amount of political opposition they encounter. Second, it is diffused: it can be attempted in any number of States, which can cause the opposition to spread its resources much more thinly than would be necessary at the Federal level. Finally, it is legally sound: it relies on the U.S. Constitution’s negative mandate in Article I, Section 10, that “No State shall... make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts.”The conclusion is that, in contrast to “top-down” attempts to “end the Fed,” a “bottom-up” approach using “constitutional tender” laws will find greater success.This paper was presented at the Austrian Scholars Conference at the Mises Institute in Auburn, AL, March 13, 2010.
{"title":"Ending the Federal Reserve from the Bottom Up: Re-Introducing Competitive Currency by State Adherence to Article I, Section 10","authors":"William Greene","doi":"10.2139/SSRN.1570108","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/SSRN.1570108","url":null,"abstract":"Since its inception, the U.S. Federal Reserve’s monetary policies have led to a decline of over 90% in the purchasing power of the U.S. dollar. As a result, there have been several attempts to curtail or eliminate the Federal Reserve’s powers; however, none have proven successful to date, due mainly to the constraints of strong political opposition at the national level.In contrast to these attempts at the national level, this paper proposes an alternative approach to ending the Federal Reserve’s monopoly on money: the “Constitutional Tender Act,” a bill template that can be introduced in every state legislature in the nation, returning each of them to adherence to the U.S. Constitution's “legal tender” provisions of Article I, Section 10. This approach would have a greater likelihood of success for a number of reasons. First, it is decentralized: rather than facing concerted political opposition at a single Federal level, it attacks the issue at the State level, where strategies and tactics can be adapted to the types and amount of political opposition they encounter. Second, it is diffused: it can be attempted in any number of States, which can cause the opposition to spread its resources much more thinly than would be necessary at the Federal level. Finally, it is legally sound: it relies on the U.S. Constitution’s negative mandate in Article I, Section 10, that “No State shall... make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts.”The conclusion is that, in contrast to “top-down” attempts to “end the Fed,” a “bottom-up” approach using “constitutional tender” laws will find greater success.This paper was presented at the Austrian Scholars Conference at the Mises Institute in Auburn, AL, March 13, 2010.","PeriodicalId":166493,"journal":{"name":"Legislation & Statutory Interpretation eJournal","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130323439","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The U.S. Constitution vests all the "legislative powers" it grants in Congress. The Supreme Court allows Congress to delegate some authority to executive officials provided an "intelligible principle" guides such transfers. Congress quickly wrote and enacted the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 in response to a financial crisis. The law authorized the secretary of the Treasury to spend up to $700 billion purchasing troubled mortgage assets or any financial instrument in order to attain 13 different goals. Most of these goals lacked any concrete meaning, and Congress did not establish any priorities among them. As a result, Congress lost control of the implementation of the law and unconstitutionally delegated its powers to the Treasury secretary. Congress also failed in the case of EESA to meet its constitutional obligations to deliberate, to check the other branches of government, or to be accountable to the American people. The implementation of EESA showed Congress to be largely irrelevant to policymaking by the Treasury secretary. These failures of Congress indicate that the current Supreme Court doctrine validating delegation of legislative powers should be revised to protect the rule of law and separation of powers.
{"title":"Lawless Policy: Tarp as Congressional Failure","authors":"J. Samples","doi":"10.2139/SSRN.1572595","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/SSRN.1572595","url":null,"abstract":"The U.S. Constitution vests all the \"legislative powers\" it grants in Congress. The Supreme Court allows Congress to delegate some authority to executive officials provided an \"intelligible principle\" guides such transfers. Congress quickly wrote and enacted the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 in response to a financial crisis. The law authorized the secretary of the Treasury to spend up to $700 billion purchasing troubled mortgage assets or any financial instrument in order to attain 13 different goals. Most of these goals lacked any concrete meaning, and Congress did not establish any priorities among them. As a result, Congress lost control of the implementation of the law and unconstitutionally delegated its powers to the Treasury secretary. Congress also failed in the case of EESA to meet its constitutional obligations to deliberate, to check the other branches of government, or to be accountable to the American people. The implementation of EESA showed Congress to be largely irrelevant to policymaking by the Treasury secretary. These failures of Congress indicate that the current Supreme Court doctrine validating delegation of legislative powers should be revised to protect the rule of law and separation of powers.","PeriodicalId":166493,"journal":{"name":"Legislation & Statutory Interpretation eJournal","volume":"94 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131734085","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}