REGULATORY FAVORITISM, LLC is now in print @milkeninstitute.org Review, along with some terrific -- and provocative -- illustrations by Robert Neubecker. www.milkenreview.org/articles/reg...

New paper: FAITHFUL AGENCIES, w/ @jodyfreeman.bsky.social & Sharon Jacobs: How can Congress ensure agency fidelity to its aims when faced with an assertive president? Removal protections are gone, but Congress has many other tools, mostly obscure but potent when considered together --

@danieljhemel.bsky.social & I discuss in @promarket.bsky.social the value markets place on regulatory stability ... and the potential effects of Trump v. Slaughter (invalidating for-cause removal protections for agency officials) on economic activity. www.promarket.org/2026/07/14/p...

Presidential Control of Independent Agencies Has a Price - ProMarket

The Supreme Court's decision in Trump v. Slaughter strips independent agencies of removal protections that made regulatory policy predictable across administrations. In new research, Brian Feinstein a...

promarket.org

WSJ commentary on my research on regulatory favoritism for small (& many not-so-small!) businesses --

Opinion | The Government’s Costly Definition of ‘Small Business’

A system of subsidies and exemptions wastes taxpayer dollars and discourages companies from growing.

wsj.com

Trump v. Slaughter: Unitary executive bolsters accountability. My experimental research: The people do not agree. No evidence that at-will removal (or other POTUS control features) boosts agencies' perceived accountability. scholarship.law.duke.edu/dlj/vol74/is...

How can legal research add value as LLMs get better at what we do? Reading lawprof Elizabeth Burch's new book The Pain Brokers, which offers a template: longform journalism on topics of public concern, fueled by deep expertise + funding beyond book sales. Gonna be the only path? Asking for a friend.

Nice Knowledge@Wharton article on my research w/ @danielhemel.bsky.social on the value investors place on Delaware's politically balanced courts. Implications for FTC, SEC, CFTC, & other regulatory commissions w/ vacant Dem seats? knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/how-...

How Investor Wealth Grows With Delaware’s Politically Balanced Judiciary

A study co-authored by Wharton’s Brian Feinstein shows how shareholder returns are a vote for Delaware’s partisan legal balance.

knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu

My new article "Valuing Public Participation" with @briandfeinstein.bsky.social is featured, along with other great new scholarship on the "abundance" movement, on this new substack meant to track scholarship in the area. Definitely a great resource. open.substack.com/pub/markthom...

January 19, 2026

New Legal Research on Building Abundance

open.substack.com

🚨Call for Papers: Wharton Financial Regulation Conference --

Over at the Notice and Comment blog, today's Ad Law Reading Room entry is "Valuing Administrative Democracy," by @briandfeinstein.bsky.social and @profdanwalters.bsky.social. Check it out! www.yalejreg.com/nc/ad-law-re...

New Paper 🚨: In this thread I teased a new paper with @briandfeinstein.bsky.social that brings hard empirical evidence to bear on emerging critiques of public participation's role in administrative decisionmaking. The paper is now public on @ssrn.bsky.social: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Dan Walters@profdanwalters.bsky.social · 8mo ago

What we need is a theory/strategy of democratic accountability that can be operationalized to meet actual public expectations of BOTH outcomes and process. This thread is exactly right that throwing out process is a nonstarter, but so too is throwing out outcomes. We need new ideas and evidence.

What we need is a theory/strategy of democratic accountability that can be operationalized to meet actual public expectations of BOTH outcomes and process. This thread is exactly right that throwing out process is a nonstarter, but so too is throwing out outcomes. We need new ideas and evidence.

Don Moynihan@donmoyn.bsky.social · 8mo ago

There is such a thirst in some progressive centrist circles that they will look at the Trump administration as a model to get things done. I think its worth addressing the argument. This is from Mark Dunkelman, author of the widely praised "Why Nothing Works." www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/o...

My comments to Bloomberg Law on the Trump admin's sharp cuts to advisory committees-- t.co/2jBkhDvykZ

The Yale Journal of Regulation is hosting a symposium on @petercontibrown.bsky.social & @seanvanatta.bsky.social's new book "Private Finance, Public Power" - a deeply researched history of bank supervision that anyone interested in banking, state capacity, or Am. political development should read.

Very excited that my article "Informational Administration" will appear in the Stanford Law Review's special administrative law issue next year! You can download the draft at papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers..... It's still a work-in-progress, so comments are very much welcome.

New on SSRN: A firm's size affects whether it can racially discriminate, dump waste, or ignore safety laws. In all, >1300 USC provisions favor small firms. This article uncovers this overlooked body of law, argues it impedes reg goals, and shows how it distorts mkts. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

thanks to @prawfbainbridge for this thoughtful review of "The Market Value of Partisan Balance"

Recent Scholarship of Note: The Market Value of Partisan Balance

Does having a politically balanced judiciary help maintain Delaware's dominance?

bainbridgeoncorporations.com

Now in print - scholarship.law.duke.edu/dlj/vol74/is...

Wharton Financial Regulation Conference - April 25 Academics, financial policymakers, etc: email me to rsvp. It's gonna be 🔥

Looking forward to presenting "Presidential Administration & the Accountability Illusion" at Duke Law Journal's adlaw symposium today. What a lively audience! @dukelaw.bsky.social

Happy to be traveling to @dukelaw.bsky.social for the annual Duke Law Journal administrative law symposium. I will be commenting on Jarkesy's Stakes for the SEC by @jamesftierney.bsky.social & presenting my own essay on Skidmore after Loper Bright. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Some synergies with having (1) undergrad & non-scientific grad programs, (2) scientific research, and (3) a health system w/in the same entity. But the setup is also partly the result of path dependence & historical contingencies. At what point would a spinoff improve all 3?

now in print: The Market Value of Partisan Balance (w/ Daniel Hemel) - shows that investors value the requirement that Delaware courts include both Dem & GOP judges. With federal agencies now in flux, that finding suggests investors appreciate stable, bipartisan institutions.

Imagine you run an agency where civil servants hold very different views than you. You want to rely on their expertise (hey, we're imagining) but you also don't wanna be hoodwinked. Before calling Elon, read Divided Agencies! @yesthatabbywood.bsky.social 🧵

Presidential personnel w/in the same administration are not a monolith. See ⬇️ @yesthatabbywood.bsky.social & my article "Divided Agencies" shows how civil servants & appointees differ both w/in & across agencies -- with implications for governance. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

My colleagues voted to grant me tenure. I'm grateful to countless mentors & friends (plus some anonymous letter-writers!) Tenure in academia is a privilege. I will strive to use it well.

Revocations of existing appointee-to-civil servant subdelegations are rare; @jennifernou.bsky.social & my data show one revocation for every 33 new subdelegations of authority. That Trump 2.0 is pursuing this so early suggests a more sophisticated operation than in '17.

Trump Pauses Permitting for All Renewables on Federal Lands

A newly released memo from the Department of the Interior freezes the pipeline for 60 days.

heatmap.news

I created a Business Scholars Starter Pack (law profs, business-school profs, sociologists, economists, etc.). Let me know who I've missed and I'll add. go.bsky.app/TPJf9ts

💥CFP: Wharton Financial Regulation Conference - 4/25. Submission deadline 2/10.💥 Academics working on topics in financial regulation (broadly defined): we hope you'll submit your work!

With fall term grades posting soon, I like to share Elena Kagan's law school transcript with my first-year students. It's very good, but certainly not perfect, particularly for her first semester. And look where she landed. You will do well too.