This essay accepts the normative vision Richard Epstein sets forth in The Classical Liberal Constitution, but refracts that vision through some considerations of positive political economy. In response to a questioner who asked at the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention what kind of...

1. Contemporary Democracy and the Prospect for Fiscal Control: Initial thoughts about and Final Reactions to the Conference -- 2. Starving the Leviathan: Balanced Budget Prescriptions Before Keynes -- Comments -- 3. The Decline of the Budget-Balancing Doctrine or How the Good Guys Finally Lost...

Is "rule of law" anything more than a fictional allusion? After all, "law" is an abstract noun, and abstract nouns can't rule. Only people can rule. Rule of law is a fiction, one that has been around since ancient times. Whether, or under what circumstances, rule of law might be an ideal type...