U.S. House of Representatives hearing on tax policy impacts on the commercial application of renewable energy technology

The rapidly evolvingbiotech drugindustry requires policy to evolve with it, but there are dangers in changing laws too broadly, too fast.

As a result of the subprime mortgage turmoil there has been considerable focus in the last year on the role of credit rating agencies in determining the risk or quality ratings on mortgage-backed securities. In this statement, the Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee examines some of the underlying structural problemsof credit rating agencies.

Congress is in the process of rewriting the United States' patent laws. Scientific and technological changes in virtually all markets have dramatically altered the patent system itself. Reacting to fears that patents and patent litigation could retard rather than support technological progress, legislators are poised to take action with the...

History shows us that sovereign governments often default on their loans, particularly in times of war or economic upheaval. Europe finds itself in this situation now and would do well to examine past sovereign debt crises—particularly, the European sovereign debt crisis of the 1920s—for lessons.

The Shadow Committee believes that the best approach to the reform of credit rating organizations is to remove ratings from the regulatory process. If that is not done, then a minimal reform would be to mandate that the SEC's regulatory use of ratings be made conditional on the achievement by individual rating agencies of objective performance benchmarks.

Congress is in the process of rewriting the United States' patent laws. Scientific and technological changes in virtually all markets have dramatically altered the patent system itself. Reacting to fears that patents and patent litigation could retard rather than support technological progress, legislators are poised to take action with the...