Max Planck Lawcast

Guest: Ruth Mason (University of Virginia School of Law and Max Planck Law Fellow). In a dramatic upset in September 2024, Apple and Ireland lost their state aid case before the European Union’s highest court. This decision—which is set to cost Apple over €13 billion—represents the most expensive state aid recovery ever. Today's guest, Ruth Mason, offers a play-by-play of the case. The episode takes listeners through the European Commission’s administrative procedure, the judgment of the General Court of the European Union, and finally the judgment of the European Court of Justice. Along the way, it offers criticism of the legal theory the Commission took in the case, as well as insights into Apple’s global tax plan and why that tax plan failed. Broader implications concerning the competitive position of the European Union and the future of US-EU tax relations are also discussed.

Guest: Sergio Mittlaender (FGV Law School in São Paulo and Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy). In this podcast, we explore a fascinating study by Lisa Lenz and Sergio Mittlaender on the effects of intergroup contact on discrimination. Through economic experiments, the researchers investigate how structured interactions between individuals from opposing political groups—Democrats and Republicans—can reduce discrimination, further examining the conditions that are necessary for intergroup contact to be effective. Tune in to discover how this research sheds light on human behaviour and offers valuable insights for policymakers working to foster inclusion, integration, and the reduction of prejudice.

Guest: Mahdi Khesali (Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods). Normative ambiguity, which stems from conflicting norms, can lead to inefficiency and self-serving behaviour. In this episode, Mahdi Khesali introduces a study that he and his colleague Yoan Hermstrüwer have conducted. Based on a 'stealing game', Mahdi discusses how voting on a given moral norm affects our moral compass. The findings emphasize the importance of expressive law and how effectively-designed voting mechanisms can communicate normative consensus. (Audio Production: www.citysoundstudio.de)

Guest: Rick Sallaba (Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy). It has been over a year now since the German government introduced Bürgergeld. The reforms present a major reworking of Germany’s unemployment benefits system. While Bürgergeld has done away with a number of sanctions that were deemed unfair and counterproductive, not everyone is impressed by this new approach to unemployment and serious concerns have been raised that the benefits are now too attractive (and expensive). To break the concept of Bürgergeld down with more reason and less emotion, Christopher Murphy is today joined in the studio by the legal scholar Rick Sallaba. (Audio Production: www.citysoundstudio.de)