In 2003, a young American woman in London studying for her PhD. ran into money trouble. To support herself while writing her thesis, she joined an escort service. Under the assumed name Belle de Jour, she started to blog her experiences. That blog led to a series of successful, jaunty memoirs beginn ... Read more

Is it just coincidence that this morning a federal judge, who reportedly is a movie buff, heard the tax conviction appeal of an actor who played a vampire hunter on the very day that the second installment of the pop culture phenomenon Twilight film series hit theaters? ... Read the full post ... Read more

Earlier this week, Applied Materials (AMAT) announced that it was acquiring Semitool (SMTL) in a $364 million all-cash deal. As we’ve footnoted before, Semitool had an interesting side-deal with CEO Ray Thompson that had the company leasing several planes and an aircraft hangar ... Read ... Read more

Sometimes a great idea in the lab doesn't work so well in the field. George Yin, former Chief of Staff of the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, thinks temporary legislation -- such as the perpetually-expiring AMT patch and research credit -- is a good thing : Consequently, enactment ... Read more

In 1932, according to John T. Flynn, there were no federal "subsidies to farmers, … handouts to the indigent, [or] support [for] schools." The federal government did not "build hospitals [or] provide medical care."[1] And though it did undertake national defense, it did so much more cheaply than A ... Read more

It's well-established that domestic violence is bad for the children directly exposed to it (and possibly their classmates as well) but experts still debate the drivers of family violence. Economists have traditionally characterized violence as a signal to outside parties or as part of an incentive ... Read more