About the Book

Economic Analysis of Law

Eighth Edition

Richard A. Posner
Chief Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals,Seventh Circuit, University of Chicago Law School

2010. 928 pages. With Teacher's Manual.

Lucid, comprehensive, and definitive in its field, this text covers every aspect of economic analysis of the law.

Features:

The preeminent work in the field, covering the legal-economic perspective on all key areas, from common law to the constitution.
Highly distinguished author, the pioneer in law and economics analysis.
Accessible, lucid, and user-friendly writing and organization:
- Non-quantitative approach does not assume or require prior knowledge of economics or mathematics
- Part and chapter organization based on legal, not economic concepts
End-of-chapter sections reinforce and extend learning through problems and suggested further readings.

New to the Eighth Edition:

A number of changes reflect the continuing economic crisis, which began in September 2008, that has led to a reexamination of some of the tenets of economics reflected in previous editions. The changes are found primarily in the following chapters:
- Chapter 1 (The Nature of Economic Reasoning)
- Chapter 13 (The Choice Between Regulation and Common Law)
- Chapter 14 (Corporations, Secured and Unsecured Financing, Bankruptcy)
- Chapter 15 (Financial Markets)
In Chapter 14 (Corporations, Secured and Unsecured Financing, Bankruptcy), changes based on the re-emerging field of organization economics
In Chapter 19 (The Market, the Adversary System, and the Legislative Process as Methods of Resource Allocation) substantial changes to reflect recent work by Posner and others on judicial behavior
Significant, but less extensive, changes in the following chapters:
Chapter 3 (Property)
Chapter 4 (Contract Rights and Remedies)
Chapter 17 (Taxation)
Chapter 21 (Civil and Criminal Procedure)