Bitcoin, arguably the most famous cryptocurrency, is notably volatile. Within 2017 alone, Bitcoin has faced two major crashes and recoveries.1 Yet, so far, keeping money in Bitcoin, and in the cryptocurrency market more generally, has been wildly profitable.2 In fact, cryptocurrency’s market capitalization in the last year was about six times that of the dot-com…
Year: 2017
Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA): Where We Are, How We Got Here, and Where We Are Going
During its current term, the Supreme Court of the United States (“SCOTUS”) will hear a case brought by the State of New Jersey challenging the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (“PASPA”) in an attempt to legalize sports gambling in the state. Sports betting, and in particular single-game sports betting, has a long…
Carbon Pricing: Current State
In a world coming to a consensus on climate change, there exists a multitude of methods which governments can utilize to influence greenhouse emissions. The current global focus is on carbon pricing. Carbon pricing is an increase to the cost of carbon dioxide emissions.1 I would argue that carbon pricing is superior to other energy…
Texas Court Makes Quick Work of Obama-era Overtime Rule.
Since December 2016, employers with salaried workers all over the country have been riding a regulatory seesaw. That’s when a revised Obama administration Department of Labor regulation was supposed to take effect. The new rule raised the minimum salary required for an exemption from mandatory overtime from $23,660 annually to $47,476 per year for salaried…
The Art of the Deal? Taking a Closer Look at Wisconsin’s $3 Billion Deal with Foxconn
Last month, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker signed into law a bill approving up to $3 billion in subsidies and tax breaks for Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn, in return for the company’s promise to build a manufacturing facility in the state.1 Under the agreement, Foxconn would invest $10 billion to construct a facility over six years,…
The Impact of the Grubhub Lawsuit
Grubhub is an online platform that allows users to coordinate pick-up and delivery orders from restaurants. For restaurants that don’t have their own delivery drivers, Grubhub provides its own service to pick up orders from them and make the delivery to its customers. For employment purposes, Grubhub drivers are classified as independent contractors. In 2015,…
The Failed Merger Between FanDuel and DraftKings
The professional sports industry has proven to be a hotbed of innovation for companies seeking to capitalize on its immense fan base. One of the most rapidly developing platforms in this space has been daily fantasy sports (“DFS”). Unlike traditional fantasy sports, where “leagues” comprised of typically a dozen members compete throughout an entire sports…
Why does the U.S. Continue to Engage in ‘Zeroing’?
As recently as October of 2016, China prevailed on the majority of a WTO complaint against certain U.S. methods of determining anti-dumping (“AD”) duties on Chinese products.1 The Panel held that U.S. practices of determining dumping margins in certain cases of “targeted dumping” were faulty because the U.S. Department of Commerce (“DOC”) had engaged in…
China’s Dilemma: Anti-Dumping Investigations
The World Trade Organization’s (WTO) anti-dumping (AD) investigation process is highly discretionary because the complainant has enormous latitude in selecting a country that possibly produces relatively expensive like products in determining the normal value of a product. China has brought many complaints against the U.S. for using questionable tactics in establishing dumping margins within proceedings,…
No-Fault’s Future in Michigan
In the state of Michigan, it is not clear that no-fault insurance has much longer to live. The state has the highest rates for automobile insurance in the country.1 For many, this high cost makes it difficult to afford a car; this cost imposition has led to a high number of uninsured vehicles in the…