Terrific post in the LPE Blog by my colleague Kathryn Sabbeth about the focus on efficiency in eviction courts. The "benefits" of efficiency usually flow in one direction:

"never before in German history has the constitutional right to socialisation been so alive. Previously a mere artefact of legal jargon, socialisation is now a household word... In addition to reclaiming 250,000 apartments, Berliners have reclaimed ownership of the Constitution."

“In defiance of the logical conclusion of its own arguments, South Africa treats Israel as a normal trading partner while simultaneously appealing to the ICJ in existential terms to act ‘now—before it is too late—to do what is within its power’ to prevent genocidal starvation”

"Colombia’s coal embargo may also prove consequential for its ripple effects. The sense of a prevailing tacit agreement—even for states in antagonistic relations with Israel—that 'you never touch trade' has been eroded."

My comprehensive account of the Packers and Stockyards Act and its relevance to the current meatpacking industry, coming to a submission cycle near you:

My forthcoming book, BURDENED, got a starred review (!) in Publishers Weekly, which called it a “trenchant examination” & “incisive cri de coeur” with “remarkably lucid policy discussions…accompanied by penetrating big-picture analysis.” 🥹 Review here: bit.ly/3YnZXmB

Today, before the Blog goes on hiatus for August, we say farewell 🥲 to our graduating editors Brett Davidson, Kate Yoon, and Matt Buck. We also welcome aboard our new editors and count down the 10 most read posts of 2024 so far! lpeproject.org/blog/gone-fish…

Though Brett, Kate Yoon, and Matt Jinoo Buck are all likely too young to appreciate this reference in their farewell post, I want them to know there's no finer way to be played off stage. And that it's been a rare pleasure working with them over the past couple of years! 🥲

"To ask about fair price is to ask how to ensure that the governance of prices in a given context appropriately balances the interests of those affected by those prices. In the real world this is an inevitably piecemeal and pragmatic inquiry."

"The result of permissive anti-merger policy is an economy in which corporations in many markets wield exceptional power." With Kamala Harris talking grocery prices, a good time to revisit Sandeep Vaheesan on what four decades of consolidation taught us. lpeproject.org/blog/merger-po…

Are you a law student interested in how law facilitates inequality and domination, and how we might bring about a genuinely egalitarian democracy? Law & Political Economy might be for you! The following 🧵 offers some helpful resources for those new to this burgeoning movement.

New to law school? Experiencing a dizzying process of personal and moral decontextualization? In their very brief field guide, Sam Aber and Caroline Parker distill some of the most useful LPE insights that they wish they had at the start of 1L. lpeproject.org/blog/law-and-p…

Congrats to the lucky law school who lands this guy. In addition to being a rising star working on issues that will only become more relevant in coming years, he’s also a terrific colleague!

"While the distributional consequences of the neoliberal counterrevolution have been closely tracked by scholars such as Thomas Piketty, Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman, less appreciated is that this same era has witnessed a shift in the organisational forms of capitalism."

👀👀 Melinda Cooper on the blog, honestly can’t think of a more fortuitous way to begin the year!

In case you missed it - though it appears few of you did! - the Blog is back in action, and Melinda Cooper started off the year with a💥

"Law & Econ has (unfortunately) had much success in making antitrust enforcement lenient, hamstringing regulation, promoting market solutions that fail ordinary consumers and workers, and raising the wealthy to glorious new heights. Sometimes, you get what you pay for."

lol: "We here pass over the fact that Bernstein is dismissing the influence of Law & Econ while writing at a law school that touts Law and Economics, for the Journal of Law, Economics & Policy& presenting such scholarship at the Henry G. Manne Program in Law & Economics Studies"

Don't miss today's post: an incredible look at the spread of Law & Economics into academic and governing institutions, and the effect that this had on antitrust enforcement, deregulation, and increasing inequality.

We sent our student editors into the blog mines, and they've returned with untold treasures. Beyond inflicting the pangs of nostalgia upon longtime readers, we're hoping that this series will offer a way in to various subjects for students and newer readers!