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Posner's Economic Analysis of the Law

Sunday, August 23, 2009
Related Tags: posner | becker | law | economics | judges
 

Instructions

Identification

  • Step 1:
    Posner published his "Economic Analysis of the Law" in 1973. He contended that judges do and should use economic principles to inform their decisions.

Effects

  • Step 1:
    Posner argued that judges should take into consideration the possible effects of their rulings. In a lawsuit that awards damages, for example, Posner wrote that judges should consider the effect on people's future actions and impose the ruling that will be most efficient.

Significance

  • Step 1:
    Economists--such as Ronald Coase and Gary Becker--have been concerned with economics and legal issues, but Posner's work represented an early example of a legal scholar using economics to analyze the law. Posner's work has had tremendous influence among legal scholars.

Expert Insight

  • Step 1:
    In the Online Encyclopedia of Law and Economics, Posner observed that few areas of the law are untouched by economics. Areas include taxation, anti-trust law, torts, intellectual property, contracts and even family law.

Fun Fact

  • Step 1:
    Posner and economist Gary Becker--a Nobel laureate in economics--write about law and economics in their shared blog, The Becker-Posner Blog.

Resources


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