Regulation

Colleen Honigsberg and Robert J. Jackson, Jr. write that Exxon Mobil’s decision to sue its own investors over a shareholder proposal threatens to enervate an admittedly imperfect but ultimately valuable mechanism that provides shareholder feedback to corporate managers and helps both parties negotiate better governance outcomes.

Randy Priem reviews the current discussions about fortifying the independence of determination committees deciding whether a credit event took place for single-name credit default swaps. He offers several possible strategies.

The following is an excerpt from the book Law, Development and Regulatory Globalisation The Case of the World Bank in India's Electricity Sector, by Adithya Chintapanti.

ProMarket Student Editor Surya Gowda speaks with Georgetown University postdoctoral fellow Katie J. Wells about her new book with Kafui Attoh and Declan Cullen, Disrupting D.C.: The Rise of Uber and the Fall of the City. Wells discusses how Uber stepped in to solve local government failures, but introduced new problems in the process.

Hamid Mehran discusses the recent report on sexual harassment and misconduct at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, highlighting the potential negative impact on financial stability due to the departure of experienced examiners and supervisors. Mehran suggests adopting a clawback scheme in employment contracts for senior employees to foster a healthier work environment and protect the FDIC's most valuable asset, its human talent.

The following is an excerpt from Despoina Mantzari's book, "Courts, Regulators, and the Scrutiny of Economic Evidence," now out at Oxford University Press.

Single-name credit default swaps help investors manage risk, but the 2023 financial crisis showed how these opaque derivatives can suddenly throw financial markets into turmoil. Randy Priem argues that mandatory central clearing, which some authorities have suggested as a solution to managing this risk, is not the holy grail solution they believe it to be.

William J. McGee argues that airline deregulation in the United States has not delivered on its promised benefits of lower fares, increased safety, and more competition, but instead has led to industry consolidation, regional inequality, and degradation of passenger rights. McGee proposes a suite of policy recommendations to address these issues, including measures to expand geographic networks, increase airport access, encourage new entrants, simplify pricing, and improve passenger rights, labor, and safety standards.

Environmentally conscious critics of artificial intelligence worry about the massive amounts of energy and fresh water its data centers require. Alessio Terzi writes that in the long term, and with the help of government regulation, the benefits of AI-accelerated innovation will outweigh the short-term environmental costs we now observe.

Dylan Gyauch-Lewis writes that efforts by big businesses, including SpaceX, Amazon, and Trader Joe’s, to undermine the National Labor Relations Board rests on poor interpretations of the Constitution but would devastate the American government and economy if successful.