This class is about the interaction between various ideas of the market, on the one hand, and law and legal/policy debate, on the other. Sometimes these “ideas of the market” are just that: a particular conception of the market, or even an impressionistic mental picture. Sometimes, they are highly developed formal theories (and critiques of formal theory). We are interested in both, though we begin in Part I with the conceptual foundations of the currently most influential theory of markets. We also consider some major objections, and a couple of alternative approaches, with an aim to identifying what is ultimately at stake—both for knowledge production and practical implications in the world—in these theoretical disputes. We then move to some core areas of law (contracts, property, antitrust, and labor regulation) and consider how ideas and theories of the market show up. Finally, we’ll take a last look at the market through two lenses that constitute both particular policy applications and sites where basic ideas have been generated: money and international trade.
I recognize that some of the topics in the course, especially Part I, will feel quite abstract. In fact, that is an aspect of some of the critiques. (As long ago as early nineteenth-century America, an influential person named Friedrich List called the theories of classical economics “castles in the air.”) However, these ideas have profoundly influenced our world, the law, and the way that government officials and perhaps even voters think about policy. The ultimate goal of this course is that by marinating in some of these abstractions, you will gain facility with how they—or ideas downstream of them—function in quite practical contexts that you may encounter in the future.