ECON 141 Law and Economics
| ECON 141 Syllabus [Spring 2026] |
Supplemental Readings
Week 2: Economic Efficiency and Utility Theory
Week 3: Public Choice and Institutional Economics
Week 5: Property: Rights and Custom
Week 6: Social Costs and Transaction Costs
Week 11: Product Liability and Torts
Week 14: The Economics of Immigration and Mobility
Week 15: The Economics of Crime and Punishment
- Who Loses From Efficiency? (Bryan Caplan, EconLib)
- 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 3: Public Choice and Institutional Economics
- Intro to Public Choice (Tabarrok, Marginal Revolution University)
- Politics Without Romance: A Sketch of Positive Public Choice Theory and Its Normative Implications (Buchanan and Tullison, 2009)
- Bootleggers & Baptists: The Experience of Another Regulatory Economist (Dudley, 2018)
- From Here to Serenity: How Public Choice Makes Me Less Cynical (Carden, 2023)
Week 5: Property: Rights and Custom
- Toward a Theory of Property Rights (Demsetz, 1967)
- The Legacy of Kelo v. New London (YouTube)
- Regulatory Takings Cases (PDF)
- Law enforcement took more stuff from people than burglars did last year (Washington Post)
Week 6: Social Costs 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)
- 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
Week 11: Product Liability and Torts
- 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)
- How The 'Pox' Epidemic Changed Vaccination Rules (NPR)
Week 14: The Economics of Immigration and Mobility
- The Economics of Immigration (Caplan, 2016)
- Border follies (The Economist)
- No, Immigrants Won’t Make Welfare State Bigger (Cato)
- Want a global economic boom? Open the borders (Washington Post)
- 3 Reasons Why Immigrants Are Key To Economic Growth (Forbes)
Week 15: The Economics of Crime and Punishment
