Review of “Economic Analysis of Law,” By Richard A. Posner

The Law and Economics of Contract Interpretation

Contract interpretation is an understudied topic in the economic analysis of contract law. This paper combines simple formal analysis of the tradeoffs involved in interpretation with applications to the principal doctrines of contract interpretation, including the “four corners” rule, mutual mistake, contra proferentum, and what I call the (informal but very important) rule of “extrinsic nonevi...

In defense of Prometheus: some ethical, economic, and regulatory issues of sports doping.

Economic Analysis and Distributive Justice

We propose an approach to Paretian jurisprudence which is intermediate in its distributive consequences between the perfectly risk-neutral, consumer surplus-maximizing approach of Richard Posner and the perfectly risk-averse, leximin approach of John Rawls. Instead of consumer surplus, we focus on the marginal costs of increased labor; the dollar-weighted formula of Posner is replaced by an hou...

Authority, Autonomy, and Choice: The Role of Consent in the Moral and Political Visions of Franz Kafka and Richard Posner

Judge Posner, Judge Wilkinson, and Judicial Critique of Constitutional Theory

judge Richard Posner's well-known view is that constitutional theory is useless. And judge J Harvie Wilkinson III has lambasted constitutional theory for the way in which its "cosmic" aspirations threaten democratic self-governance. Many other judges hold similar views. And yet both Posner and Wilkinson-in the papular press, in law review articles, and in books-have advocated what appear to be ...