Why Do Cities Innovate in Public Health? Implications of Scale and Structure

Big cities have frequently enacted public health regulations—especially with respect to tobacco use and obesity—that go beyond the state and federal regulatory floors. That cities innovate in public health at all is remarkable. They have less to gain financially from more stringent regulation than higher levels of government, which shoulder more of the burden ofContinue reading “Why Do Cities Innovate in Public Health? Implications of Scale and Structure”

Noise Reduction: The Screening Value of Qui Tam

Whistle-blowing mechanisms have long been recognized and used as tools to encourage the revelation of hidden information. The information sought is often evidence of otherwise undetectable fraud. An effective mechanism will be one that best deters such fraud. To do this, the mechanism needs to produce high-quality information that is not otherwise lost in theContinue reading “Noise Reduction: The Screening Value of Qui Tam”

Illegal Secrets

When can the government keep its illegal action secret? In spite of the strong incentive for government officials and institutions to hide unlawful conduct from the public and their demonstrated tendency to do so, both public information access doctrines and the broader normative discussion of government secrecy inadequately answer this question. The questionable legality andContinue reading “Illegal Secrets”