ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATORY REFORM: DISCUSSION

Environmental Economics and Policy,

RURAL DEVELOPMENT, PRIVATIZATION AND PUBLIC CHOICE: SUBSTANCE DEPENDS UPON PROCESS: DISCUSSION

Community/Rural/Urban Development,

THE ROLE OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT DECISIONS: THE CASE OF SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT

The issue of solid waste management has risen to national prominence in the last decade, fueled by increasing waste disposal costs and changing public attitudes. This situation presents a major opportunity for economists to use their applied microeconomics skills to assist state and local governments manage waste in a cost effective fashion. While findings from formal research efforts may ultimately make their way into the decision-making process, perhaps economists can play an even more significant role in emphasizing the importance of the most basic economic concepts and principles for sound decision making in solid waste management or the many other areas in which local public choices are made. These areas would include at least the following: opportunity cost, marginal analysis of costs and benefits, and the role of economic incentives.Public Economics,

Flavor versus mass eigenstates in neutrino asymmetries: implications for cosmology

We show that, if they exist, lepton number asymmetries ($L_\alpha$) of neutrino flavors should be distinguished from the ones ($L_i$) of mass eigenstates, since Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) bounds on the flavor eigenstates cannot be directly applied to the mass eigenstates. Similarly, Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) constraints on mass eigenstates do not directly constrain flavor asymmetries. Due to the difference of mass and flavor eigenstates, the cosmological constraint on the asymmetries of neutrino flavors can be much stronger than conventional expectation, but not uniquely determined unless at least the asymmetry of the heaviest neutrino is well constrained. Cosmological constraint on $L_i$ for a specific case is presented as an illustration.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, matching to journal versio

A conversation with Professor William W. (Rusty) Park

ABBY COHEN SMUTNY*: The ITA’s Academic Council has an interesting and very useful project, which is called Preserving Perspectives. It is a project to interview leading arbitrators regarding the development and evolution of international arbitration. This has led to a series of wonderful videos that are posted on ITA’s website. These videos are a tremendously rich resource and I encourage you to check them out on ITA’s website. I’m now delighted to introduce to you the next interview in this important series. Professor and member of our academic council Catherine Rogers will be interviewing Professor Rusty Park, and allow me to introduce both of them to you briefly

Lord Mustill and the Channel Tunnel Case

Over two decades ago, in the now legendary Channel Tunnel Case, the British House of Lords (as it then was) was asked to provide judicial support for the efficient completion of a monumental construction project. The decision in that matter, penned by the late Lord Mustill, illustrates the delicate interplay between the dynamics of otherwise applicable law and the bespoke arbitration framework chosen by sophisticated parties to govern their dispute

The New Face of Investment Arbitration: NAFTA Chapter 11

To protect American investment abroad, the United States traditionally endorsed arbitration as a preferred means to resolve disputes between investors and host countries. Yet a growing awareness of the down-side of arbitration, at least from the perspective of the party seeking the home-town justice of its own courts, has led to media attacks and legislative initiatives intended to hobble neutral international adjudication. This article suggests that assaults on investment arbitration are misguided, and may end up doing more harm than good. On balance, NAFTA arbitration serves as a positive force in the protection of legitimate economic expectations, enhancing the type of asset protection that facilitates wealth-creating capital flows, bringing net gains for both host state and foreign investor. A retreat from investment arbitration will likely to backfire, creating problems than it solves

Arbitration and Fine Dining: Two Faces of Efficiency

A restaurant meal might turn into disappointment either when good food arrives late, or when prompt service delivers bad food. The chef cannot become preoccupied with any one aspect of fine dining to the exclusion of others. Likewise, arbitral proceedings implicate proportionality and balance among a multitude of factors which can make the experience good or bad. Several elements play key roles in evaluating any arbitration, namely: accuracy, fairness, cost, speed, and award enforceability. An inevitable tension exists among these goals. Decisions reached quickly and cheaply will do few favors if the award gets it wrong on the substantive merits. The prevailing party will find little satisfaction in a correct result that is refused recognition because the arbitrators denied due process to the losing side. A good arbitrator, like good chef, will seek balance and counterpoise. That which is excessive may become not only insignificant, but also counterproductive