Against an SEC-Mandated Rule on Political Spending Disclosure: A Reply to Bebchuk and Jackson

In their article “Shining Light on Corporate Political Spending,” professors Lucian Bebchuk and Robert Jackson articulate a case for rulemaking by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”), regarding the mandatory disclosure of publicly traded companies’ spending that may be related to politics. Bebchuk and Jackson’s new article expands upon the case they made in an earlier article they published on corporate political speech, and on the rulemaking petition they submitted to the SEC on their own and certain other law professors’ behalf, which the Commission is now considering.4 Though their article is lucidly presented, the case made by professors Bebchuk and Jackson is ultimately
unpersuasive.

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James R. Copland is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and director of Legal Policy. 

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