Special Topics: Economic Analysis of the Law

3 Credit Hours

Although the course title is similar to the perspective/open elective Economic Analyis of the Law, the courses are essentially independent and neither is a prerequisite for the other. Students are permitted to take one course or both, in either order. The course will apply simple junior high school level graphical (abundant) and algebraic (occasional) economic analysis to investigate selected legal topics. I. The Relevance of Supply and Demand to Legal Decisions - Montana v. Blackfeet Tribe of Indians, 471 U.S. 759 (1985)-State authority over tribes on their reservations - Cotton Petroleum v. New Mexico, 490 U.S. 163 (1989)-State authority over non-Indian contractors on tribal reservations - To Tax Tribes Or Not To Tax Tribes? That Is The Question, 12 Lewis & Clark Law Review 971-90 (2008)-Ignorance of rudimentary economics results in inconsistent decisions II. The Relevance of Shortages and Surpluses to Legal Decisions - Why Do Firms Contrive Shortages? The Economics of Intentional Mispricing, 32 Economic Inquiry 562-81 (1994) III. The Relevance of Derived Demand to Legal Decisions - Paul MacAvoy, The Trunk-Line Railroad Cartels and the Interstate Commerce Commission [selected parts] IV. The Relevance of Marginal Revenue and Marginal Cost to Legal Decisions - FTC v. A. E. Staley Mfg. Co., 324 U.S. 746 (1945) - Boise Cascade v. FTC, 637 F.2d 573 (1980) - Basing Point Pricing: Competitive vs. Collusive Theories, 72 American Economic Review 289-306 (1982). V. The Relevance of Factor Proportions for Legal Rules - The Black Death and Property Rights, 31 Journal of Legal Studies s545-88 (2002). VI. The Relevance of Focal Points for Legal Violations - Understanding Riots, 14 Cato Journal 147-57 (1994). VII. The Relevance of Concentrated Versus Dispersed Interests for Legal Rules - Toward a More General Theory of Regulation," Journal of Law and Economics, August 1976:211-240 - A Coasian Model of Insider Trading, 80 Northwestern University Law Review 1449-72 (Summer 1986) - League Structure & Stadium Rent Seeking - the Role of Antitrust Revisited, 65(1) Florida Law Review 1-72 - Fuel Economy and Perverse Unintended Consequences, 29(2) Environmental Forum 34-35 (March/April 2012) VIII. The Relevance of Property Rights for Legal Decisions - Sovereignty Can be a Liability: How Tribes Can Mitigate the Sovereign's Paradox, in Self-Determination: The Other Path for Native Americans, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 194-213 IX. How Coase Got His Theorem - The Nature of the Firm, 4 Economica 386-405 (1937) - British Broadcasting [selected parts] - The Federal Communications Commission. Journal of Law and Economics 2:1-40 (1959) - The Problem of Social Cost, 3 Journal of Law and Economics 1-44 (1960) [selected parts] - Notes on The Problem of Social Cost, in The Firm, the Market, and the Law. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press (1988) Evaluation Method: Grading by attendance, participation, two or three in-class examinations Class Materials: All Materials are available in our library, often in electronic form.