Peter Gordon

Alexander Tabarrok

David T. Beito

Deborah Gordon

Challenges the orthodoxy that insists government alone can improve community life

Choice, Community, and Civil Society

The Voluntary City

Eric Helland

Is the U.S. tort system in crisis? CBS television's 60 Minutes has said the tort system metes out "jackpot justice," and Newsweek has called America a "Lawsuit Hell." Other observers of the legal system, however, argue that the tort crisis is a myth. Although both sides of the debate rely primarily on anecdote and the selective use of evidence, a sound diagnosis of the tort system requires a rigorous analysis of hard data, not a retelling of sensationalistic sound bites. In Judge and Jury: American Tort Law on Trial, economists Eric Helland and Alexander Tabarrok present their study of tens of thousands of tort cases from across the United States. The result is the most complete picture of the U.S. system of civil justice to date. Examining three of the key players of the tort system (juries, judges, and lawyers), Helland and Tabarrok conclude that the tort system is badly broken in some respects but functions surprisingly well in others.

American Tort Law on Trial

Judge and Jury

This intriguing collection is designed to show how economists can play a more active role in designing and directing the nation's social institutions. By taking the task of political economy seriously, the contributors (including some of today's most distinguished economists) reveal the power of economic thought to offer innovative solutions to some of the most difficult problems facing society today. By creating markets where none existed before, the authors propose efficient, reliable, and profitable improvements to current systems of health insurance, financial markets, human organ distribution, judicial practice, bankruptcy and securities regulation, patenting, and transportation. Written in the entrepreneurial spirit, these essays show economics to be an ambitious, dynamic, and far-from-dismal science.

Alexander Tabarrok

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