ECON 141 Law and Economics
| ECON 141 Syllabus [Fall 2021] |
Handouts
Instructor Note: Readings will be added over the course of the semester. Be sure to check back for each module!
Week 1: Law and Legislation
Week 2: Economic Efficiency and Utility Theory
Week 3: Property Rights and Takings
Week 5: Externalities and Transaction Costs
Week 7: Contracts and Breach
Week 10: Product Liability
Week 11: Torts and Public Health
Week 13: The Economics of Crime...
Module 14: ...and Punishment
Week 1: Law and Legislation
- The Law Merchant and International Trade (Foundation for Economic Education)
- Legal Systems Very Different From Our Own (David Friedman) [pick ONE legal system to read about and discuss in class]
Week 2: Economic Efficiency and Utility Theory
- Who Loses From Efficiency? (Bryan Caplan, EconLib)
- De Gustibus Non Est Disputandum (Becker and Stigler, 1977)
- Be sure to log in through the SJSU Library!
Week 3: Property Rights and Takings
- Toward a Theory of Property Rights (Demsetz, 1967)
- The Legacy of Kelo v. New London (YouTube)
- Current Takings Cases (Pacific Legal Foundation) (optional)
- Electronic Frontier Foundation Copyright Week (optional)
Week 5: Externalities and Transaction Costs
- Guided Example: Coase Theorem (YouTube)
- Michael Heller on the Tragedy of the Anticommons (YouTube)
- Sunnyvale homeowners told to cut redwoods that block solar panels (The Mercury News)
Week 7: Contracts and Breach
- A victory for freedom of contract (Pacific Legal Foundation)
- Weston & Anor v Weston & Ors [2006] EWCA CIV 42 (17 January 2006)
- When Congressional Legislation Interferes with Existing Contracts: Legal Issues (optional)
Week 10: Product Liability
- A California mayor wants to require all gun owners to have liability insurance (CNN)
- The Trump Administration's Surprising Attack on Religious Freedom Reaches the Supreme Court (Forbes)
- Make cops carry liability insurance: The private sector knows how to spread risks, and costs [Opinion] (NY Daily News)
Week 11: Torts and Public Health
- How the "ghost map" helped end a killer disease (TED Talk)
- How The 'Pox' Epidemic Changed Vaccination Rules (NPR)
- The 115-year-old Supreme Court opinion that could determine rights during a pandemic (CNN)
- Get $100 For a Vaccine? Cash Incentives Work For Some, Others Not So Much (NPR)
Week 13: The Economics of Crime...
- Militarization and police violence: The case of the 1033 program (Delehanty et al, 2017)
- The no-knock warrant for Breonna Taylor was illegal (Washington Post)
- Law enforcement took more stuff from people than burglars did last year (The Washington Post)
- Houston Forfeiture Case | Recording of the Opening Argument and Rebuttal (optional)
Module 14: ...and Punishment
- New Bill Would Abolish Qualified Immunity, Make it Easier to Sue Cops Who Violate Civil Rights (Forbes)
- Jamison v. McClendon, Order Granting Qualified Immunity (2020)
- Juries Can Acquit the Guilty, 9th Circuit Says, but 'There Is No Right to Nullification'
- Innocence is Irrelevant (The Atlantic)
- Another study finds few consequences for prosecutor misconduct (Washington Post)