Issues in law and economics

Introduction: applying economic reasoning to the law -- Property -- Should body parts be salable? Moore v. the Regents of the University of California (1990) and the market for human tissue -- Can anyone own the sunlight? Fontainebleau Hotel Corp. v. Forty-Five Inc. (1959) and the assignment and protection of property rights -- Should eminent domain power be available to private companies? Poletown Neighborhood Council v. City of Detroit (1981) and the economics of takings -- Will file sharing ruin the music industry? A&M Records v. Napster and the economics of copyright protection -- Contracts -- Should the courts encourage contractual breach? Acme Mills & Elevator Co v. J.C. Johnson (1911) and the economics of breaking promises -- Should the courts void a contractual clause they deem unfair? Williams v. Walker Thomas Furniture Co. (1965) and the paradox of stipulated damages -- Torts -- Should tort liability be governed by fault or no-fault rules? Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad v. American Cyanamid (1990) and the economics of the great debate in tort law -- Should firms be held liable for product defects? Voss v. Black and Decker and the economics of product liability -- Does malpractice liability induce physicians to provide too much health care? Helling v. Carey (1974) and the economics of medical malpractice law -- Crime and punishment -- Are criminals rational? Gary Becker and the dawn of rational crime -- Analysis -- Does prison reduce crime through deterrence or incapacitation? Ewing v. California (2003) and the economics of the three-strikes law -- Is racial profiling a nondiscriminatory policing strategy? Anderson v. Cornejo (2004) and the economics of police search procedures -- Do judges discriminate when sentencing? the Sentencing Reform Act and federal sentencing guidelines -- Behavioral law and economics -- How does behavioral economics contribute to the economic analysis of law? a brief introduction to the marriage of economics and psychology