Jennifer Urban Supports Adoption of Smart-Meter Privacy Rules

Washington Internet Daily, July 29, 2011 by Louis Trager
http://www.warren-news.com/internetservices.htm (registration required; go to H:\Law School in the News\In the News 2011\News Clips for article)

“I think it’s very good news for innovation and for consumers in California,” said Jennifer Urban, a University of California-Berkeley law professor who represented the center in the proceeding. The commission reached “a very nuanced and careful decision,” she said.

Charles Weisselberg Criticizes Judge’s Case Delays

Daily Journal, July 28, 2011 by Darwin BondGraham
http://www.dailyjournal.com (registration required; go to H:\Law School in the News\In the News 2011\News Clips for article)

“The delays in these cases are striking, and seem, to me, inexcusable and unconscionable,” said Charles Weisselberg, a UC Berkeley School of Law professor. “These are recommendations to grant relief… [that] have languished for years without any discernible action on the part of the judge.”

David Gamage Expects California’s Fiscal Mess to Worsen

East Bay Express, July 27, 2011 by Darwin BondGraham
http://bit.ly/mVBB30

“Without major reforms to either California’s tax base structure or to the state’s fiscal constitution, we should expect repeated budget crises over the coming decades,” wrote Gamage in a 2008 collection of academic articles about Prop 13. “If current trends continue, these budget crises are likely to become increasingly severe. Californians may end up looking back on their current budget troubles with nostalgia.”

Christopher Edley, Goodwin Liu React to Nomination

Bay Area News Group, July 26, 2011 by Josh Richman and Howard Mintz
http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_18551618

“Anyone who watched professor Liu testify during the rigorous Senate hearings on Capitol Hill knows that he’s an exemplary scholar with enormous constitutional knowledge and intellectual rigor,” Edley said. “Our students and faculty will miss his leadership and scholarship dearly, but it’s a higher calling and California’s gain.”

In Brown’s news release Tuesday, Liu said he’s “deeply honored” by this new nomination and looks forward “to the opportunity to serve the people of California on our state’s highest court.”

Eric Talley Explains Limits of Dodd-Frank Act

KQED-FM, Forum, July 25, 2011 Host Michael Krasny
http://www.kqed.org/a/forum/R201107250900

“Well, one of the most interesting things about Dodd-Frank, and it’s probably true about most types of financial reform, is that when Congress promulgates these acts, there’s a lot of fact-finding that has to be done to go into filling out the details, and therefore Congress almost necessarily has to kick the can down the road to the various regulatory entities.”

Alan Auerbach Addresses UC Fee Hikes

The Sacramento Bee, July 24, 2011 by Kevin Yamamura
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/07/24/3790500/california-lowers-taxes-raises.html

Because of the way financial aid works, the general belief is that low-income families will still be spared from tuition hikes, while upper-income families can afford to absorb them. Alan Auerbach, an economist and tax expert at UC Berkeley, said that “as unpopular as higher tuition is, if we think about the subsidies implicit in very low tuition, some relatively affluent people are benefiting from it.”

Stanley Lubman Explains China’s ‘Indigenous Innovation’ Policy

The Wall Street Journal, China Real Time Report, July 22, 2011 by Stanley Lubman
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2011/07/22/changes-to-chinas-indigenous-innovation-policy-dont-get-too-excited/

While government policy on procurement has receded from the original position and “indigenous innovation” has been “delinked” from government procurement requirements, implementation of this shift is problematic because acceptance and commitment by sub-central (provincial and municipal) governments are needed to make it meaningful.