Many great features make this text an ideal option for your classroom: - maintains its standing as the preeminent work in the field, covering the legal-economic perspective on all key areas, from common law to the Constitution - presents the expertise of a highly distinguished author, pioneer in law and economics analysis - offers accessible, lucid, and user-friendly writing and organization: i. non-quantitative approach does not assume or require prior knowledge of economics or mathematics ii. part and chapter organization ...
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Many great features make this text an ideal option for your classroom: - maintains its standing as the preeminent work in the field, covering the legal-economic perspective on all key areas, from common law to the Constitution - presents the expertise of a highly distinguished author, pioneer in law and economics analysis - offers accessible, lucid, and user-friendly writing and organization: i. non-quantitative approach does not assume or require prior knowledge of economics or mathematics ii. part and chapter organization based on legal, not economic concepts - includes end-of-chapter sections to reinforce and extend learning through problems and suggested further readings This edition highlights a variety of new information, keeping it timely and topical: - the corporations chapter is revised and updated significantly in light of Enron and other corporate scandals; and Congress response in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act - an exciting new field of economics -- organizational economics -- is now included, with particular reference not only to corporations but also to nonprofits, law firms, and the judiciary - the rapidly expanding interest in the legal regulation of national security and foreign affairs (torture issues, executive power, the USA Patriot Act, etc.) requires the addition of the interesting economic issues presented by such regulation - expanded coverage of foreign law, of which there is increased interest, both substantive and institutional, and both national and supranational (e.g., European Union) is included throughout the book - new insights in the chapter on contracts are drawn from the author's recent scholarly work on contractlaw - since intellectual property is perhaps the hottest field in law today, the author incorporates some ideas from a book he recently coauthored with William Landes on the economic structure of intellectual property law - the chapter on finance is revised and updated to reflect the growing importance of behavioral finance. - novel legal-economic issues relating to the Internet are added to several chapters
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Judge Posner writes about the subject clearly, and introduces the translation of welfare economics to law in an orderly fashion. Examples and cases abound. This is a good introduction both to the rational choice way of thinking about human motivation, as well as the consequences this will have for policy and law. Posner also points out some common misunderstandings and mistakes that lawyers - even SCOTUS justices - make about economics.
Sadly, the book is an introduction by a lawyer, aimed at lawyers. This shows. The mathematical rigour is severly lacking, and the microeconomic theory presented is very basic. For instance, Judge Posner does a brilliant job of explaining efficient contract interpretation, but the crucial contract formation bit - requiring a bit of game theory (that might put some of the more radical claims about efficiency to shame) - is left in the 'too hard to solve basket'. This is a shame.
That said, a good introduction and reference - for lawyers as well as social science students - which deserves its status as a classic. However, by no means strong enough on economic theory or maths to be a good standalone book for an econ major studying law and economics.
