Jamesian Philosophy Refreshed

The Supreme Court had a lot to say about the various clauses of the first amendment. Sometimes the most important statements a court can make are in its decisions on what cases it will not take up. And that was the case this term, with the high court's refusal to take up the case of Berisha v. Lawson.   That is important to the continuing role of the Supreme Court as a protector of freedom of the press, and the uniquely hard time that public figures have in mounting a plausible defamation lawsuit in the United States. The new configuration of Justices has been re-working the religion clauses from scratch in recent years, and that process has continued this term. And there is the much-publicized matter of the cursin' cheerleader to consider.  We will contemplate those points in that order today. (The above image is of Mary Beth Tinker, the plaintiff in free-speech-for-minors litigation of more than 50 years ago -- photos taken than and now.  her case came to the fore again...

Leno's been mocking the NFL of late, only in part because of the lengthening rap of the league's players. A sample of his material: It's now 32 NFL players that have been arrested since the Super Bowl. To give you an idea of how bad it's gotten, now when a team says they've hired a new defensive coordinator, they're talking about a lawyer. The latest NFL player to get arrested is New York Giants linebacker Dan Connor. He was arrested at the Philadelphia airport for carrying a switchblade. Experts say it’s the first time anyone in Philly has been able to stop a New York Giant in three years. A lifelong Cleveland Browns fan, a man 55 years old, recently passed away and for his last request he wanted six Cleveland Browns as pallbearers so the Browns can let him down one last time. That’s what he said. The bad news? They fumbled the coffin five yards from the grave.

I said a few posts back that in order to understand the assumptions behind the efficient capital markets hypothesis (ECMH), it will help us to state the case for that hypothesis with some clarity. Here we go: when there is a way for someone to make alpha, that way comes about because there is some exploitable inefficiency in the system. For example, XYZ may be listed on stock exchanges in two cities: Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Due to some inefficiency, XYZ trades at a lower price in Philly than in Pittsburgh. We know that’s inefficiency because the equity of XYZ is worth only what it is worth; there is only one possible complete discounting of all relevant information on that matter. If Pittsburgh and Philadelphia differ, one or both are wrong. Since listed exchange prices are themselves public information, arbitrageurs will almost instantly pickup on this, and will quickly start buying XYZ at the lower price in Philadelphia and then selling it for a risk-free profit for a hi...