http://www.ssrn.com/author=68651 Jim Chen SSRN Content en-us Fri, 25 May 2012 01:23:21 EDT Fri, 25 May 2012 01:23:21 EDT http://www.ssrn.com/rss/ SSRN RSS Generator 1.0 editor@ssrn.com (Editor) webmaster@ssrn.com (WebMaster) 44.902414-93.290123http://ssrn.com/author=68651http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/header/logo_social.jpgJimChenSSRNhttp://feedburner.google.com http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=1980731 The power to tax is at once the power to create and the power to destroy. If the United States government hopes to discharge its primary duty as creator and protector of its citizens’ wealth, it must be willing to destroy wealth, from time to time, by redistributing it. More than any other tool, the means by which government finances and depletes its treasury affects the societal distribution of wealth. Differential taxation and targeted spending are the most significant and most effective means Thu, 24 May 2012 00:00:00 EDT http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=19807311 http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=778884 All deliberate speed, the remedial formula adopted in Brown v. Board of Education, 349 U.S. 294 (1955), has a singularly interesting literary lineage. Contrary to Justices Holmes and Frankfurter's assumption, all deliberate speed is not a phrase from the traditional language of the English Chancery, but rather a variant on a line from an 1893 poem by Francis Thompson, The Hound of Heaven. How Thompson's line, "Deliberate speed, majestic instancy," came to dominate one of the defining moments in Sat, 05 May 2012 00:00:00 EDT http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=7788842 http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=1157093 This essay addresses questions of truth and beauty, of poetry and fidelity, as applied to legal education and ultimately to law. After discussing how law schools can most faithfully translate their teachings to lawyers' real concerns, I shall ponder how the law itself reconciles its duty to truth with its practitioners' longing for beauty. Fri, 04 May 2012 00:00:00 EDT http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=11570933 http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=2050646 The United States-Canada Free Trade Agreement (FTA) of 1989 guaranteed free trade between the United States and its largest trading partner. One aspect of the treaty provoked intense constitutional scrutiny in the United States. The FTA requires binding binational arbitral review of antidumping and countervailing duty orders issued by administrative agencies of each nation. This article argues that the FTA violates Article III and the Appointments Clause of Fri, 04 May 2012 00:00:00 EDT http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=20506464 http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=2049583 Federalism is the oldest question of American constitutional law and the prime mover in a legal system where nearly every constitutional controversy is in some sense a case about federalism. In a mercilessly competitive global economy that transforms virtually every legal endeavor from a strictly local undertaking into a global commitment, few if any legal subjects fall under the effective control of a single national sovereign. Because economic analysis universalizes theories of federalism, Wed, 02 May 2012 00:00:00 EDT http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=20495835 http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=1980731 The power to tax is at once the power to create and the power to destroy. If the United States government hopes to discharge its primary duty as creator and protector of its citizens’ wealth, it must be willing to destroy wealth, from time to time, by redistributing it. More than any other tool, the means by which government finances and depletes its treasury affects the societal distribution of wealth. Differential taxation and targeted spending are the most significant and most effective means Sat, 07 Apr 2012 00:00:00 EDT http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=19807316 http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=1910669 Disaster law consists of a portfolio of legal rules for dealing with catastrophic risks. This essay takes preliminary steps toward modeling that metaphor in quantitative terms made familiar through modern portfolio theory. Modern disaster theory, by analogy to the foundational model of corporate finance, treats disaster law as the best portfolio of legal rules. Optimal legal preparedness for disaster consists of identifying, adopting, and maintaining that portfolio of rules at the frontier of ef Wed, 04 Apr 2012 00:00:00 EDT http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=19106697 http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=1944294 In Soft Law and the Global Financial System: Rule-Making in the Twenty-First Century (2011), Christopher J. Brummer provides a detailed and informative analysis of the international regulatory response to the global financial crisis of 2008. This accomplishment alone warrants a close look at this book. But Professor Brummer goes further in this pivotal work on the law of international finance. He provides a persuasive theoretical account of international financial law. Soft Law and the Globa Wed, 04 Apr 2012 00:00:00 EDT http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=19442948 http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=1967266 This article evaluates the economic viability of a student’s decision to borrow money in order to attend law school. For individuals, firms, and entire nations, the ratio of debt to income serves as a measure of economic stability. The ease with which a student can carry and retire educational debt after graduation may be the simplest measure of educational return on investment. Mortgage lenders evaluate prospective borrowers' debt-to-income ratios. The spread between the front-end and back- Wed, 04 Apr 2012 00:00:00 EDT http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=19672669 http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=2033958 The nearly silent and seamless convergence of American and European standards for organic labeling represents a pivotal moment in contemporary agricultural policy. Effective June 1, 2012, the United States and the European Union have each agreed to treat the other jurisdiction’s system of organic certification as equivalent to its own. Because organic labeling under the Organic Foods Production Act serves as the practical (if legally imperfect) vehicle by which American farmers and agribusiness Wed, 04 Apr 2012 00:00:00 EDT http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=203395810 http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=1980731 The power to tax is at once the power to create and the power to destroy. If the United States government hopes to discharge its primary duty as creator and protector of its citizens’ wealth, it must be willing to destroy wealth, from time to time, by redistributing it. More than any other tool, the means by which government finances and depletes its treasury affects the societal distribution of wealth. Differential taxation and targeted spending are the most significant and most effective m Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:00:00 EST http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=198073111 http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=1967266 This article evaluates the economic viability of a student’s decision to borrow money in order to attend law school. For individuals, firms, and entire nations, the ratio of debt to income serves as a measure of economic stability. The ease with which a student can carry and retire educational debt after graduation may be the simplest measure of educational return on investment. Mortgage lenders evaluate prospective borrowers' debt-to-income ratios. The spread between the front-end and back-<br/><i>New PDF Uploaded</i> Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:00:00 EST http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=196726612 http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=1944294 In Soft Law and the Global Financial System: Rule-Making in the Twenty-First Century (2011), Christopher J. Brummer provides a detailed and informative analysis of the international regulatory response to the global financial crisis of 2008. This accomplishment alone warrants a close look at this book. But Professor Brummer goes further in this pivotal work on the law of international finance. He provides a persuasive theoretical account of international financial law. Soft Law and the Globa<br/><i>New PDF Uploaded</i> Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:00:00 EST http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=194429413 http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=1967266 This article evaluates the economic viability of a student’s decision to borrow money in order to attend law school. For individuals, firms, and entire nations, the ratio of debt to income serves as a measure of economic stability. The ease with which a student can carry and retire educational debt after graduation may be the simplest measure of educational return on investment. Mortgage lenders evaluate prospective borrowers' debt-to-income ratios. The spread between the front-end and back- Sat, 03 Dec 2011 00:00:00 EST http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=196726614 http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=1944294 In Soft Law and the Global Financial System: Rule-Making in the Twenty-First Century (2011), Christopher J. Brummer provides a detailed and informative analysis of the international regulatory response to the global financial crisis of 2008. This accomplishment alone warrants a close look at this book. But Professor Brummer goes further in this pivotal work on the law of international finance. He provides a persuasive theoretical account of international financial law. Soft Law and the Globa Sat, 15 Oct 2011 00:00:00 EDT http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=194429415 http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=1910669 Disaster law consists of a portfolio of legal rules for dealing with catastrophic risks. This essay takes preliminary steps toward modeling that metaphor in quantitative terms made familiar through modern portfolio theory. Modern disaster theory, by analogy to the foundational model of corporate finance, treats disaster law as the best portfolio of legal rules. Optimal legal preparedness for disaster consists of identifying, adopting, and maintaining that portfolio of rules at the frontier of ef Thu, 22 Sep 2011 00:00:00 EDT http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=191066916 http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=1910669 Disaster law consists of a portfolio of legal rules for dealing with catastrophic risks. This essay takes preliminary steps toward modeling that metaphor in quantitative terms made familiar through modern portfolio theory. Modern disaster theory, by analogy to the foundational model of corporate finance, treats disaster law as the best portfolio of legal rules. Optimal legal preparedness for disaster consists of identifying, adopting, and maintaining that portfolio of rules at the frontier of ef Wed, 17 Aug 2011 00:00:00 EDT http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=191066917