A growing literature in law and public policy harnesses research in behavioral economics to justify a new form of paternalism. Contributors to this literature typically emphasize the modest, non-intrusive character of their proposals. A distinct literature in law and public policy analyzes the...

The "new paternalism" is a set of policy prescriptions based on recent findings in behavioral economics whose purpose is to help individuals overcome a wide variety of behavior and cognitive biases. According to its proponents, it does not aim at replacing the preferences of individuals with...

The health care issues commonly considered most important today — controlling costs and covering the uninsured — arguably should be regarded as secondary to innovation, inasmuch as a medical treatment must first be invented before its costs can be reduced and its use extended to everyone. To...

Although behavioral economics has criticized the empirical accuracy of the neoclassical rationality assumption, it supports the normative view that welfare-increasing choice presupposes stable and context-independent preferences. We argue that this position neglects important features of...

Both behavioral and neoclassical economists maintain a concept of strict rationality that is exceptionally narrow. Neoclassicists use it as a tool both to explain what agents actually do and as a prescriptive framework. Behavioralists do not believe it adequately explains actual behavior but...

Behavioral economists point to deficient willpower as one of the causes of breakdowns in decisionmaking processes. Individuals, it is claimed, know their optimal course of action but sometimes are unable to implement it because they lack sufficient motivation. This paper demonstrates that the...

An under-appreciated aspect of F.A. Hayek's mature views about rationality is the inter-relation of the “pure logic of choice” and rule-following behavior. Sometimes it is asserted that Hayek abandoned his earlier understanding of individual rationality and replaced it with a completely...

The purpose of this essay is to describe and analyze the Austrian approach to law and economics within the context of the law and economics discipline. The important and distinctive feature of the Austrian approach is the emphasis on economic and legal processes. We focus on four themes within...

Adam Smith argues that the ethical foundation of justice including property rights is to be found in the approbation of the impartial spectator. In this paper I argue that that the strictness, precision, and accuracy of the general rules of justice cannot be so explained. Something is missing....