Steering clear of debates over originalism vs. a living Constitution, Richard A. Epstein employs close reading, historical analysis, and political and economic theory to urge a return to federalism, restricted government, separation of powers, and strong protection of individual rights--ideas that animated the framers' constitutional design.
The painful performance of the American economy in the past decade is not a function of bad luck. It is the product of flawed institutional design. Right now we are reaping the harvest of efforts to reinvigorate the progressive programs of the New Deal that stress high progressive taxes, large transfer payments, strong labor laws, and major barriers to free trade. This combination of public finance and market regulation has proved a potent for...
The noted legal scholar Richard Epstein advocates a much smaller federal government, arguing that our over-regulated state gives too much discretion to regulators, which results in arbitrary, unfair decisions and other abuses. Epstein bases his classical liberalism on the twin pillars of the rule of law and of private contracts and property rights.
Federal judges are not just robots or politicians in robes, yet their behavior is not well understood, even among themselves. Using statistical methods, a political scientist, an economist, and a judge construct a unified theory of judicial decision-making to dispel the mystery of how decisions from district courts to the Supreme Court are made.
In this provocative book, Richard Epstein shows how Progressives saw in constitutional interpretation an opportunity to advance their political agenda. They transformed a Constitution that reflected the influence of John Lock and James Madison into one that reflected the ideas of the leading intellectuals of their own time. As a result, they rewrote, because they did not understand, key provisions of the constitutional text.
If legal scholar Richard Epstein is right, then the New Deal is wrong, if not unconstitutional. Epstein reaches this sweeping conclusion after making a detailed analysis of the eminent domain, or takings, clause of the Constitution, which states that private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation. In contrast to the other guarantees in the Bill of Rights, the eminent domain clause has been interpreted narrowly. It...
Drawing on his extensive knowledge of history, law, and economics, Richard Epstein examines how best to regulate the interface between market choice and government intervention--and find a middle way between socialism and libertarianism. He argues the merits of competition over protectionism and reveals the negative results that ensue when political forces displace economic competition with subsidies and barriers to entry. In the process, he p...
A comprehensive, easy-to-understand guide designed to help consumers understand the American health insurance system so that they can obtain the benefits to which they are entitled.
This timely and controversial book presents powerful theoretical and empirical arguments for the repeal of the anti-discrimination laws within the workplace. Richard Epstein demonstrates that these laws set one group against another, impose limits on freedom of choice, unleash bureaucratic excesses, mandate inefficient employment practices, and cause far more invidious discrimination than they prevent. Epstein urges a return to the now-rejecte...
?Thorough, even exhaustive, analytical style is applied throughout. Clearly Modern Products Liability Law will appeal most to lawyers, insurance industry officials, and others with a working interest in this field. In addition, economists and lawyers interested in the interaction between law and economic analysis will find challenging material here.. ..The critique of the state of modern products liability law and the deft case made for the sy...
Simple Rules for a Complex World offers a sophisticated agenda for comprehensive social reform that undoes much of the mischief of the modern regulatory state. At a time when most Americans have come to distrust government at all levels, Richard Epstein shows how a consistent application of economic and political theory allows us to steer a middle path between too much and too little.
Explains how there are substantial gains to be made from countries getting 'easy' policy decisions correct. This work explains how liberal economists, politicians and civil servants often spend much time discussing 'difficult' cases. It uses evidence and analysis derived from the disciplines of both law and economics.
