LPE Blog

Interview

Interlocking Crises: Q&A on Global Debt in a Post-COVID World with Odette Lienau, Part 1

By Odette Lienau

The LPE Blog asks Odette Lienau some questions about global debt in the wake of COVID-19, recent international initiatives to provide debt relief, and the rise of China as a major lender to sovereign states.

Interview

Excerpt: How to Vaccinate the World

By Editors

On Oct. 13, 2021, the LPE Project and the Global Health Justice Partnership sponsored a panel discussion about How to Vaccinate the World. In the following excerpt, which has been lightly edited for length and clarity, the panelists discuss the development of mRNA vaccine manufacturing capacity in Africa and whether the U.S. government has done enough to. . .

Weekly Roundup

Weekly Roundup: October 22, 2021

By LPE Editors

Mark Silverman discusses the value of a statistical life, Amy Sinden argues against a one-size-fits all approach to regulatory analysis, and John N. Robinson III reflects on the necessity and illusion of public things in a democratic capitalist society.

Symposium

Unmasking Racial Capitalism’s Public Face

By John N. Robinson III

Can public things meaningfully protect us from capitalism’s bottom line? If not, is our hope in them as a lever of progressive politics misplaced?

Symposium

The Shaky Legal and Policy Foundations of Cost-Benefit Orthodoxy in Environmental Law

By Amy Sinden

Neither Congress nor the Court have called for a one-size-fits-all approach to regulatory analysis, yet CBA continues to loom large in environmental policymaking. Agencies should reach for other tools that better capture the advantages and disadvantages of regulatory alternatives.

Symposium

The “Value of a Statistical Life”: Reflections from the Pandemic

By Mark Silverman

Economists who insist that the “value of a statistical life” can be determined solely by looking at the preferences of individual economic agents in a market overstate their case and miss crucial alternatives. The pandemic has shown that democratic determinations of value for non-market goods (like human life) deserve greater consideration.

Weekly Roundup

Weekly Roundup: October 15, 2021

By LPE Editors

Three views about the costs of cost-benefit analysis, a panel about how to vaccinate the world, and an upcoming event you won’t want to miss!

Symposium

A Post-Neoliberal Regulatory Analysis for a Post-Neoliberal World

By James Goodwin

While treating economic growth as the summum bonum of public policy may reflect the preferences of economists, large majorities of voters across the political spectrum oppose using the aim of wealth maximization to guide regulatory decision-making. The time has come to abandon cost-benefit analysis and adopt a progressive approach to regulatory analysis.

Symposium

The Limits of the Cost-Benefit Worldview: A Disability-Informed Perspective

By Karen Tani

Two examples from the experience of people living with disabilities demonstrate CBA’s shortcomings.

Symposium

Modernizing Regulatory Review Beyond Cost-Benefit Analysis

By Melissa Luttrell, Jorge Roman-Romero

CBA’s reliance on a “partial equilibrium” falls apart under the weight of real-world complexity. Rather than attempting to reform cost-benefit analysis, OIRA should reject it outright.

Weekly Roundup

Weekly Roundup: October 8, 2021

By LPE Editors

Zachary Liscow offers three strategies for bringing distribution into cost-benefit analysis, Elizabeth Popp Berman calls on liberals to politicize CBA, and Stacy Seicshnaydre discusses the untapped potential of the fair housing act. Plus, a bevy of new LPE events!

Symposium

Using Legal Tools to Bring Debt and Equity into Balance

By Stacy Seicshnaydre

The Fair Housing Act, as written, provides several tools to challenge inequitable urban development. Yet the courts have been reluctant to enforce the law.

Symposium

Let’s Politicize Cost-Benefit Analysis

By Elizabeth Popp Berman

Conservatives have used cost-benefit analysis much more strategically than liberals to advance underlying political goals. Rethinking CBA within an LPE framework will require not only critique of its technical assumptions, but a willingness to be similarly strategic in thinking about its deployment.

Symposium

Equity in Regulatory Cost-Benefit Analysis

By Zachary Liscow

Standard cost-benefit analysis exacerbates inequality by assigning greater weight to benefits that accrue to the rich. But it need not. Here are three strategies for bringing concerns about distribution within the CBA framework.

Weekly Roundup

Weekly Roundup: October 1, 2021

By LPE Editors

Frank Pasquale introduces a symposium on the future of cost-benefit analysis, Lisa Heinzerling explains how cost-benefit analysis limits ambitious action on climate change and racial justice, and Dedrick Asante-Muhammad discusses the institutional racism of municipal bonds.

LPE Masthead

Managing Editor James Brandt Editoral Board Amna Akbar Corinne Blalock Veena Dubal Luke Herrine Amy Kapczynski Caroline Parker Aziz Rana Kate Redburn Karen Tani Noah Zatz Student Editors Liz Brown Chloe Miller Sohum Pal Elliot Setzer Eve Zelickson

Student Editor Emeriti Sam Aber Ashraf Ahmed Will Bloom Adam H. Bradlow Matthew Buck Brett Davidson Isabel Echarte Tariq El-Gabalawy Berto Elysee Molly Gordon Jeff Gordon Ruthie Lazenby Talya Lockman-Fine Andrew Miller Roxana Moussavian Lydia Nicholson

Ure Obioma Steffi Ostrowski Alyssa Peterson Derrick Rice Michaeljit Sandhu Ann Sarnak Sarang Shah Isra Syed Zoe Tucker Emily Villano Henry Weaver Nick Werle Anna Wherry Jesse Williams Kate Yoon