T-TIP: curb your enthusiasm

What a difference a decade or so makes. When the last round of WTO trade talks was underway in the early 2000s, opinion was split on whether it would supercharge world growth or destroy our entire way of life. By contrast, today’s ongoing discussion between the EU and USA on the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership are passing virtually un-noticed. True, there are stirrings of disquiet over what it will mean for certain sectors, like services or (French) culture. And some activists worry about potential provisions for something called ‘investor state dispute settlement’, which ostensibly allows corporations to take legal action against governments deemed to be breaching trade laws, for example by protecting jobs in favoured industries or enforcing employment protection laws. But nothing on the scale of the agitation seen previously. Why is this

Curb Your Enthusiasm: Optimistic Entrepreneurs Earn Less

This paper concerns the implications of biased beliefs on entrepreneurial earnings. Amongst self-employed business owners, income is decreasing in optimism measured whilst still an employee. Controlling for earnings in paid employment, self-employment earnings of those with optimism above the mean are some 30% less than those with optimism below the mean. For employees, it is optimists that have higher earnings. These and associated results suggest that mistaken expectations lead to entry errors. As a test of external validity, future divorcees turn out to be financial optimists, indicating our measure captures an intrinsic psychological trait associated with rash decisions

Curb Your Enthusiasm: The Rise of Hedge Fund Activist Shareholders and the Duty Of Loyalty

Shareholder activism has been a growing problem in the corporate world, creating numerous dilemmas for the board of directors of companies. Activist shareholders can unsettle a company, pressuring the directors to make decisions according to the course of business the activists would prefer, and thus interfering with the traditional role of directors as the decision-makers of a company. With this new development in the business world, legal scholars have been debating if this activism needs to be controlled and, if so, what measures can be taken to reach a balance. This Note examines the traditional corporate principles such as the shareholder primacy theory and the principle of “one share, one vote,” evaluating the benefits and the costs of adhering to these theories amidst the changing landscape in the business and legal world. This Note then proposes that the traditional concept of the duty of loyalty can be applied to activist shareholders, much like it has been applied to the directors and majority shareholders in the past, based on a fact-by-fact analysis

Curb Your Heroism: How Larry David, an Old, Bald Misanthrope, Won the Hearts of Millions

For eleven television seasons, viewers of the series Curb Your Enthusiasm have been witness to a main character in Larry David who paradoxically displays attributes that are both endearing and revolting. This article offers an analysis of Larry David’s character with the goal of ascertaining his heroic nature, specifically focusing on whether he best meets the scientific criteria for a hero or for an antihero. Drawing from the literature of heroism science, we examine a large body of evidence from episodes of the series supporting arguments for both heroism and antiheroism in Larry’s character. Consistent with definitions of heroism, Larry manifests deviance, humility, loyalty to principles, and a growth mindset. Yet consistent with antiheroism, Larry shows selfishness, social insensitivity, manipulativeness, and resistance to growth. We conclude that any inconsistencies in his character can be understood through a consideration of Curb Your Enthusiasm’s comedic goals and sensibilities

Curb Your Heroism: How Larry David, an Old, Bald Misanthrope, Won the Hearts of Millions

For eleven television seasons, viewers of the series Curb Your Enthusiasm have been witness to a main character in Larry David who paradoxically displays attributes that are both endearing and revolting. This article offers an analysis of Larry David’s character with the goal of ascertaining his heroic nature, specifically focusing on whether he best meets the scientific criteria for a hero or for an antihero. Drawing from the literature of heroism science, we examine a large body of evidence from episodes of the series supporting arguments for both heroism and antiheroism in Larry’s character. Consistent with definitions of heroism, Larry manifests deviance, humility, loyalty to principles, and a growth mindset. Yet consistent with antiheroism, Larry shows selfishness, social insensitivity, manipulativeness, and resistance to growth. We conclude that any inconsistencies in his character can be understood through a consideration of Curb Your Enthusiasm’s comedic goals and sensibilities

Comedy, Repetition and Racial Stereotypes on Television

The article explores the affinity of comedy for repetition, analyzing particularly the sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm (Creator: Larry David, HBO 2000-2011), a comedy series on the life of the co-creator and writer of Seinfeld, Larry David, who plays himself. Sitcoms in general have been assessed as a conservative form of television in regard to its repetitive form, its contents, and stereotypes. Through an analysis of Curb, I will reevaluate this appraisal in regard to racial and especially to anti-Semitic stereotypes

Inside the Mind of Larry David: Navigating the Border Walls and Bizarre Social Customs of Curb Your Enthusiasm

Whether real, imagined, or otherwise, there is no denying Larry David lives in a world with and without borders. Whether it is in one of his past (“Seinfeld”) or current (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”) television lives, Larry David inhabits an alternative universe of his own making. From the coffee house to the country club, the world of Hollywood is his playground where he continually builds walls between himself and the rest of “normal” society. And while Larry David is a master of his domain and crossing the proverbial line, he is even more adept at tearing down the walls of traditional values and contemporary customs in everyday life. We will examine the humorous and wince-inducing customs of Larry David in his semi-fictional, fishbowl world where his divide and conquer mentality often bends, and sometimes breaks, the building blocks of everyday life. Whether it be race, religion, political views, sexuality, cosmic beliefs or anything in-between the often mundane and sometimes insane, we will examine the unique dimension that Larry David and friends inhabit and deconstruct on a never ending television basis that simultaneously divides and binds the viewing audience