Delighted to announce the publication of my new book! Negotiation produces peace and prosperity, and we all benefit from continuously improving how we negotiate.

From a beach on Boston Harbor: Happy 4th × 250!

7 year #arbitration meets what we might call, as 4th of July approaches, a firecracker judge: NY Court Faults 'Woebegone' $71M Tupi Award Challenge www.law360.com/commercialco...

Attitudes toward the #USA and President Donald #Trump are negative in countries we survey across the globe. However, Europeans stand out for especially unfavorable views.

Hard to find a better four sentence of human history than this by @theihs.org

Are there states where one would be prevented from, or punished for, taking such a video and then posting it with a pejorative label like “police state“?

Occurs to me that we’re at the end of an ultimately very anomalous century-long evidentiary golden age during which it was extremely easy to produce an accurate visual/auditory record of reality, and relatively difficult to produce a false one.

Starmer reboots with dye job, black tee in plot to replace himself as prime minister www.bbc.com/news/live/ck...

Also from the US not a political scientist perspective: This view of Britain, but unironically

Haha, including some of the replies

Neon Mary, Awaiting the Owner, oil and pigments on canvas, 2025 #caturday

Anybody else learning just now in this World Cup that Europeans don’t seem to have school buses?

Second (but *not* last) #SCOTUS ruling is in Hunter v. United States. For an 8-1 Court (with Justice Thomas dissenting), Justice Kagan holds that a plea agreement to *not* appeal a sentence is unenforceable when it would result in a miscarriage of justice: www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...

Justices Gorsuch, Sotomayor, and Jackson concur in Hunter v. US to get pretty close to saying that plea bargaining is unconstitutional. Worth a read.

Parol evidence rule, anyone #contracts

Nice coincidence or the upsides of big tech surveillance?: Just last night, I was telling somebody where I might choose for my next travel destination, and Instagram‘s first ad for me this morning was travel to that destination even though I don’t think I’d ever searched online for it.

Have you heard that the US Supreme Court misinterprets the Federal #Arbitration Act? Then give this a read! (requires TDM access but I’ll put the main points in a comment) www.transnational-dispute-management.com/journal-adva...

higher education funding report by @cato.org www.cato.org/blog/new-pap...

Glimpse of Mount Fuji from seat 52J

Competitive markets pandering to mass tastes are to economics what democracy is to politics: the worst, except for all of the others

Playing a World Cup in college football country threatens to create heretofore unimaginable of levels of sports fandom

‘International #Arbitration Agreements in #Insolvency: Seeking a Happy Medium’ My latest article benefited from discussion at INSOL Europe and INSOL International conferences and from thoughtful comments by Eugenio Vaccari Robert Lawless & Laura Coordes papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Berkeley Law new AI policy 1/

Today’s lunchtime view: Hall of Serene Peace at the Summer Palace, Beijing

#Contract and #negotiation story from my first week in China: I forgot to pack my electric shaver so I needed to buy one and went to a nearby store that had a few models but no prices on the products or the shelf. Salesman did not speak English, and I do not speak Chinese, but he showed me on his

Am I wrong though?

If this isn't called MeatCute I'm going to be very disappointed. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/05/w...

#Arbitration piece in today’s New York Times warrants this reminder:

I understand that people (often for very valid reasons) denigrate classical economics as a field, but I really wish that people would read anything at all about economics, because the answer to this is quite literally right there on the first page.

Surreal:

Switching from typewriter to PC after freshman year of college made those last three years of college paper writing so rewarding that it confirmed me on a path to an academic career

People will be closely studying how Hungary's opposition pulled off their win in such a pro-incumbent system. Important to note that the theme was corruption. Democrats need to get much better at calling out Trump's corruption.

Our districts are huge compared to other countries, but America is big. To a large degree that's just baked in. If we followed the cube root rule (~692), we'd still have many more people per legislator than any peer democracy. And there are good reasons no real democracy has thousands of seats.

I hadn't seen this before. This is pretty remarkable. Earth and Moon in one NASA photo. ht @astrokatie.com

The “everything sucks” mindset on both the right and left ignores reality, says Cato’s Marian Tupy. Living standards, incomes, and long-term affordability have risen in America—and there’s reason for optimism. Learn more in the latest issue of Free Society magazine: buff.ly/hcPZqDw

I think "the welfare state got substantially bigger during this period" should make the claim at least a *little* controversial.

The grid is fascinating, really. This incredibly complex physical/cyber/economic system that enables much of modern life runs continuously - with extremely competent, highly trained humans in the loop! - and is totally invisible to the rest of us except for the 0.0005% of the time when it fails.

"The West’s precious, almost unique, achievement has been the limitation of state power. Since Magna Carta in 1215, the West gradually placed constraints on rulers — through rights for citizens, independent courts, a sovereign church and the sanctity of private property." 1/

hubble’s gorgeous recent new images to take your mind off the state of the world right now 🌌✨

Downloading new drivers to scan yet another document health insurance needs. How is your spring break?

Interesting thread comparing US with Europe:

Because the world seems about as much fun as a car crash at the moment, please take a couple of minutes to listen to, what is in my opinion, the greatest guitar solo of all time. Performed by Prince on the occasion of George Harrison's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 2004. Enjoy 🫠

Much US history in oil prices: prosperity growing after 1981 recession, staying strong in 90s, then Bush 43’s wars and China’s rise, but fracking/shale helped Obama & Trump 45.

#contract law and risk. A few years ago, it was pandemic. Now, sadly, war.

If you need some good news, rejoice!: www.usatoday.com/story/travel...

Cato Institute legal scholar Ilya Somin calls the war against Iran blatantly unconstitutional, emphasizing that “The Framers of the Constitution deliberately gave Congress exclusive control over the power to initiate war.” buff.ly/6dFMn5P

“perfect competition”, rivalry, and #antitrust law

Good thread based on a good NYTimes piece—plus interesting comments and discussion: