Cass Sunstein
Dworkin Does Dallas
The death of Ronald Dworkin last week was not merely an event for legal philosophers, but really for anyone concerning with the law, for Dworkin might have been the pre-eminent legal theorist of the last century. The legacy of his ideas is too broad and deep for a blog post, but his notion of law-as-integrity …
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CONTINUE READINGMayor Bloomberg and the Granny State, or: When is a Soda Ban Not a Ban?
Yes, that’s right: granny state, not — as conservatives are wont to call it — the nanny state. Dan’s thoughtful post the other day suggested but did not spell out an important theoretical implication of New York City’s prohibition on large servings of sugared soft drinks: it represents an almost-classic form of the “nudge,” the …
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CONTINUE READINGLaw School News: Sunstein Returns to Harvard
The White House announced that Cass Sunstein will be leaving OMB at the end of the month to return to Harvard Law School. Sunstein was not popular with environmentalists– I have heard people say that he was worse than some of the OMB heads who served under Republican presidents. He also doesn’t seem to have …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Ozone Rule: What Sunstein Didn’t Say
On September 2, Cass Sunstein wrote a letter to Lisa Jackson about the ozone rule, “requesting” that EPA withdraw the regulation. Beyond the fact that it was written at all, the letter is remarkable for its significant silences: Although the letter notes that the rule was based on science that is five years old, it …
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CONTINUE READINGOzone: Three More Comments
1) Ann argues persuasively that Obama’s decision was terrible politics. But it is also terrible economics. As the Shrill One pointed out the other day, we are currently in a liquidity trap, i.e. there is not enough demand in the economy to pull us out of the recession, and a lot of money is simply …
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CONTINUE READINGUK report: behavioral change takes more than a nudge
Cross-posted at CPRBlog. No one seems to like the idea of regulation these days. Nudges, alternatives that try to get people to voluntarily alter their behavior by changing the context in which they make decisions, have been widely touted as a better approach. Cass Sunstein, Obama’s “regulatory czar” in the Office of Management and Budget, …
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CONTINUE READINGWhite House review delays EPA mountaintop removal guidance
Cross-posted at CPRBlog. EPA has announced that it will delay finalizing its guidance memorandum on Clean Water Act permitting for mountaintop removal mining projects pending review by the White House Office of Management and Budget. The announcement is bad news for Appalachian streams, and worse news for environmental interests hoping the Obama administration won’t completely …
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CONTINUE READINGUsing Disclosure as a Smokescreen: How Behavioral Economics Can Deflect Regulation
A key figure in behavioral economics recently issued a warning about over-reliance on its findings. In a NY Times op. ed, Dr. George Lowenstein raised questions about some uses of behavioral economics by government policymakers: As policymakers use it to devise programs, it’s becoming clear that behavioral economics is being asked to solve problems it …
CONTINUE READINGThe Top 10 Environmental Developments of 2009
10. Cass Sunstein becomes regulatory czar. Sunstein is a true believer in cost-benefit analysis, the bête noire of many an environmentalist. Obama’s appointment of Sunstein to oversee health and environmental regulations may put the brakes on regulatory initiatves. 9. California passes AB 758. The first mandate for energy efficiency standards for existing buildings. 8. Water …
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CONTINUE READINGCass Sunstein Confirmed by Senate
To the dismay of some environmentalists, the Senate confirmed Cass Sunstein as “regulatory czar” today. An undeniably brilliant scholar, Sunstein is a long-time advocate of cost-benefit analysis as a check on overly zealous risk regulation. (Unfortunately, his views of regulation figured much less in the public debate than a frenzied campaign to mobilize hunters, gun …
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