Link Banana

Brandon Keim is justifiably angry that the American Department of Health and Human recently declared a state of anthrax emergency for no discernible reason but the immunity it offers to vaccine manufacturers.

Emergency exemption from legal liability is granted to vaccine manufacturers by the Public Readiness and Preparedness Act, passed in 2005 to protect against paralyzing lawsuits during outbreaks of anthrax, avian influenza or other potentially pandemic diseases.

I was leery of Jeffrey Rosen’s piece about the Supreme Court, expecting a traditional “the court’s too conservative” screeds, and found something much more intriguing. (Though I concede it could still be reduced to “the court’s too conservative”)

Though the current Supreme Court has a well-earned reputation for divisiveness, it has been surprisingly united in cases affecting business interests. Of the 30 business cases last term, 22 were decided unanimously, or with only one or two dissenting votes.

… There are no economic populists on the court, even on the liberal wing. And ever since John Roberts was appointed chief justice in 2005, the court has seemed only more receptive to business concerns. Forty percent of the cases the court heard last term involved business interests, up from around 30 percent in recent years. While the Rehnquist Court heard less than one antitrust decision a year, on average, between 1988 and 2003, the Roberts Court has heard seven in its first two terms — and all of them were decided in favor of the corporate defendants.