Taisu Zhang
@zhangtaisu.bsky.social
Comparative historian, legal theorist, Chinese law and politics observer @Yale.
New paper on “Legal Internalism” posted. Co-authored with Shyam Balganesh. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com
September 17, 2025 at 3:00 PM
New paper on “Legal Internalism” posted. Co-authored with Shyam Balganesh. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
The desire to make the RMB internationally attractive partially explains the Chinese government’s continued hesitation to significantly increase the money supply (which then feeds directly into current waves of deflation). I’m not sure that’s worth it. www.economist.com/china/2025/0...
China is ditching the dollar, fast
Officials believe that the yuan has finally come of age
www.economist.com
September 13, 2025 at 10:22 PM
The desire to make the RMB internationally attractive partially explains the Chinese government’s continued hesitation to significantly increase the money supply (which then feeds directly into current waves of deflation). I’m not sure that’s worth it. www.economist.com/china/2025/0...
Just a reminder that, since 2009, China has held a military parade in Tiananmen Square roughly once every 5 years to commemorate major anniversaries, and yet in that span it has invaded, bombed, or otherwise militarily attacked exactly 0 countries.
September 2, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Just a reminder that, since 2009, China has held a military parade in Tiananmen Square roughly once every 5 years to commemorate major anniversaries, and yet in that span it has invaded, bombed, or otherwise militarily attacked exactly 0 countries.
It seems like, well, an opportune time to push this paper again. We find qualitative similarities in how the Chinese and American governments produce economic statistics, but even we couldn’t anticipate how quickly those similarities would strengthen…
The Law of Information States: Evidence from China and the United States — Virginia Journal of International Law
www.vjil.org
August 1, 2025 at 7:44 PM
It seems like, well, an opportune time to push this paper again. We find qualitative similarities in how the Chinese and American governments produce economic statistics, but even we couldn’t anticipate how quickly those similarities would strengthen…
This paper Is finally out! www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Does Legality Produce Political Legitimacy? An Experimental Approach | The Journal of Legal Studies: Vol 54, No 2
Abstract This article studies whether pure legality, stripped of normative components that are central to the rule of law, can convey perceived legitimacy to governmental institutions and activity. Th...
www.journals.uchicago.edu
July 15, 2025 at 1:55 AM
This paper Is finally out! www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
First draft completed! The writing took six months, but the substantive research took about 7 years, spanning multiple article and essay projects (none of which will supply actual text for this book, given Harvard UP’s publishing preferences). Should be out at some point in late 2026.
June 25, 2025 at 10:02 PM
First draft completed! The writing took six months, but the substantive research took about 7 years, spanning multiple article and essay projects (none of which will supply actual text for this book, given Harvard UP’s publishing preferences). Should be out at some point in late 2026.
Just one of many reasons why we never use student edited journal placements as a proxy for quality when making hiring decisions (and if you’re a school that considers yourself intellectually serious but does use these proxies—shame on you)… freebeacon.com/campus/exclu...
Exclusive: Harvard Law Review Axes 85 Percent of Submissions Using Race-Conscious Rubric, Documents Show
When the Washington Free Beacon published documents showing how the Harvard Law Review selects articles based on race, the law review insisted those documents had been taken out of context.
freebeacon.com
June 20, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Just one of many reasons why we never use student edited journal placements as a proxy for quality when making hiring decisions (and if you’re a school that considers yourself intellectually serious but does use these proxies—shame on you)… freebeacon.com/campus/exclu...
For a decade, I’ve been arguing with economists over whether ideology can override economic rationality in large enough doses to fundamentally alter the course of human history (I argue yes, most economists I know are skeptical). As of today, I believe I’ve won the argument.
April 4, 2025 at 4:39 PM
For a decade, I’ve been arguing with economists over whether ideology can override economic rationality in large enough doses to fundamentally alter the course of human history (I argue yes, most economists I know are skeptical). As of today, I believe I’ve won the argument.
Some data on the Chinese judicial cases database that so many social scientists now use. Quantitative empirical studies of Chinese courts are probably going to be stuck in 2017-2020 for the next decade or two…
March 9, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Some data on the Chinese judicial cases database that so many social scientists now use. Quantitative empirical studies of Chinese courts are probably going to be stuck in 2017-2020 for the next decade or two…
At this rate I’m not sure DOGE is really going to achieve its stated goal of reducing total federal government employee count, simply because there will soon be so many lawsuits and so many restraining orders that they might have to double the staff count at DOJ…
February 6, 2025 at 10:40 PM
At this rate I’m not sure DOGE is really going to achieve its stated goal of reducing total federal government employee count, simply because there will soon be so many lawsuits and so many restraining orders that they might have to double the staff count at DOJ…
An EO (e.g., Trump’s EO seeking to “end” birthright citizenship) that delays its own implementation for 30 days from the date of issuance is obviously anticipating being quickly sued (which has already happened tonight) and stayed (which will happen within a few days) in court.
January 21, 2025 at 4:11 AM
An EO (e.g., Trump’s EO seeking to “end” birthright citizenship) that delays its own implementation for 30 days from the date of issuance is obviously anticipating being quickly sued (which has already happened tonight) and stayed (which will happen within a few days) in court.
Credible (or rather, formerly credible) commitments, once broken, are incredibly difficult to restore. This will take years of policy-based and institutional therapy, if there is indeed the political will for it. www.ft.com/content/de2c...
Beijing seeks to curb ‘shakedown’ detentions of Chinese executives
Senior figures at more than 80 listed companies were held by local authorities in 2024, FT analysis finds
www.ft.com
December 29, 2024 at 5:12 PM
Credible (or rather, formerly credible) commitments, once broken, are incredibly difficult to restore. This will take years of policy-based and institutional therapy, if there is indeed the political will for it. www.ft.com/content/de2c...
Final SSRN upload of 2024: a symposium essay forthcoming in YJLH that muses about why some forms of social hierarchies, however morally dubious, tend to be more historically prevalent and stickier than others. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
"Natural Hierarchies"
This essay examines the socioeconomics of status hierarchies: how they respond to external demands, and how, in terms of institutional structure, they make them
papers.ssrn.com
December 26, 2024 at 2:45 PM
Final SSRN upload of 2024: a symposium essay forthcoming in YJLH that muses about why some forms of social hierarchies, however morally dubious, tend to be more historically prevalent and stickier than others. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Second SSRN post of the week, this one on how governments produce information—and what the law can do to optimize that process. Perhaps surprisingly, core political incentives and institutional mechanisms are broadly similar across the U.S. and China. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
The Law of Information States: Evidence from China and the United States
Government could not function-legally, administratively, or politically-without producing information about the population, the economy, crime, elections, publi
papers.ssrn.com
December 24, 2024 at 2:49 PM
Second SSRN post of the week, this one on how governments produce information—and what the law can do to optimize that process. Perhaps surprisingly, core political incentives and institutional mechanisms are broadly similar across the U.S. and China. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
New paper posted to SSRN, a few more to come later this week. The primary claim in this one is that legality and authoritarianism can be politically and administratively synergistic. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Legality and Legitimacy in Authoritarian Regimes
Conventional legal and political theory tend to assume that authoritarian regimes have an inherently uneasy relationship with law: that strong legal systems fun
papers.ssrn.com
December 23, 2024 at 4:57 PM
New paper posted to SSRN, a few more to come later this week. The primary claim in this one is that legality and authoritarianism can be politically and administratively synergistic. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Pretty good research on the (lack of) relevance of the USNews rankings for essentially the only thing they should theoretically influence: student matriculation decisions.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
The Decline & Fall of the US News Rankings
Have the U.S. News & World Report law school rankings become irrelevant? The ostensible purpose of the US News law school rankings is to give prospective la
papers.ssrn.com
December 19, 2024 at 12:46 PM
Pretty good research on the (lack of) relevance of the USNews rankings for essentially the only thing they should theoretically influence: student matriculation decisions.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
The Rosalind Picard incident from yesterday’s NeurIPS conference keynote would normally be grounds for a Title 6 complaint and investigation.
December 14, 2024 at 9:35 PM
The Rosalind Picard incident from yesterday’s NeurIPS conference keynote would normally be grounds for a Title 6 complaint and investigation.
Whatever stimulus effect emerges from these rate cuts, it’s likely to flow more to debt refinancing by local governments and SOEs than to consumption or new investment. That said, devaluing the RMB is necessary, and frankly should have already happened. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/12/b...
China Pledges More Stimulus to Shore Up Flagging Economy
At a meeting to set the party’s economic policy agenda, China’s leadership said it would borrow more and cut interest rates in a bid to bolster growth.
www.nytimes.com
December 12, 2024 at 2:08 PM
Whatever stimulus effect emerges from these rate cuts, it’s likely to flow more to debt refinancing by local governments and SOEs than to consumption or new investment. That said, devaluing the RMB is necessary, and frankly should have already happened. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/12/b...
When I left to drop my kids off at school, I thought for sure that the final Ding-Gukesh game was headed for a draw. Came back, and within minutes Ding had committed an irreparable blunder. It’s a brutal game sometimes, but congratulations to the new king. Quite the series.
December 12, 2024 at 1:25 PM
When I left to drop my kids off at school, I thought for sure that the final Ding-Gukesh game was headed for a draw. Came back, and within minutes Ding had committed an irreparable blunder. It’s a brutal game sometimes, but congratulations to the new king. Quite the series.
Judging from the amount of posts here on the SK martial law declaration, it’ll be a while before this site can really compare to the other place in terms of political information…
December 3, 2024 at 6:56 PM
Judging from the amount of posts here on the SK martial law declaration, it’ll be a while before this site can really compare to the other place in terms of political information…
If true, this would be… unbelievably embarrassing (third one in a row). If it triggers a more systemic anti-corruption campaign in the armed forces to clear the rot, that would probably set back near-term battle-readiness by quite a lot.
www.ft.com/content/6414...
www.ft.com/content/6414...
China’s defence minister placed under investigation for corruption
US officials say probe is part of wider operation to uncover graft in People’s Liberation Army
www.ft.com
November 27, 2024 at 2:31 PM
If true, this would be… unbelievably embarrassing (third one in a row). If it triggers a more systemic anti-corruption campaign in the armed forces to clear the rot, that would probably set back near-term battle-readiness by quite a lot.
www.ft.com/content/6414...
www.ft.com/content/6414...
It’s now the 20th Anniversary of this episode, and it’s still the greatest college prank of all time. This also happened to be the only time I went to a Y-H Game in Cambridge. So worth it, even if the game itself was utterly forgettable.
youtu.be/T4kai4FL0MQ?...
youtu.be/T4kai4FL0MQ?...
Harvard Says "WE SUCK"
YouTube video by cinematikwoo
youtu.be
November 23, 2024 at 10:43 PM
It’s now the 20th Anniversary of this episode, and it’s still the greatest college prank of all time. This also happened to be the only time I went to a Y-H Game in Cambridge. So worth it, even if the game itself was utterly forgettable.
youtu.be/T4kai4FL0MQ?...
youtu.be/T4kai4FL0MQ?...
One of the most interesting articles I’ve seen in quite some time: www.cambridge.org/core/journal....
The Global Network of Liberty: Toward a New Framework for Understanding the History of Political Concepts | American Political Science Review | Cambridge Core
The Global Network of Liberty: Toward a New Framework for Understanding the History of Political Concepts
www.cambridge.org
November 21, 2024 at 6:52 PM
One of the most interesting articles I’ve seen in quite some time: www.cambridge.org/core/journal....
Doesn’t it feel like academic twitter/X has basically just moved here, whereas the rest of the social/political world has not? So… going forward, this app is basically going to be a networking club for scholars?
November 18, 2024 at 1:22 PM
Doesn’t it feel like academic twitter/X has basically just moved here, whereas the rest of the social/political world has not? So… going forward, this app is basically going to be a networking club for scholars?
Giving this app a test run…
November 17, 2024 at 1:29 AM
Giving this app a test run…