PHIL 410

Law & Economics

Professor Jeff Johnson

Professor Colleen Johnson

Planning the course back in the mid 80s

IMPORTANT NOTICE!

What follows is so self-evident to me that I have never stated explicitly in words. But there seems to be a persistent misunderstanding, so here goes. There are video-lectures that go with this course. Viewing them is essential to doing well in the course. They are a formal requirement. Just as though you could hardly expect to do well in a course you never attended, trying to take this course without watching the video-lectures is just as foolhardy.

The video-lectures are only available by rental through the Eastern Oregon University Bookstore. This means that even if you use other resources to find the assigned texts for the course, you will still need to contact the Bookstore to get the video-lectures. Here is a link to the Bookstore:

http://www.eoubookstore.com/

This quarter we will be examining an important new area of contemporary legal theory - "law and economics." Philosophy, Politics, & Economics students should be exceptionally well-suited to appreciate this truly interdisciplinary field of legal studies. We are anxious to explore some of the purely theoretical implications of looking at American law from a perspective of economic efficiency. But, we are equally concerned with public policy and moral consequences of thinking about legal questions in terms of costs and benefits.

OUTCOME PROFICIENCIES

Knowledge of theoretical law & economics

Familiarity with American law and legal institutions

Familiarity with the law of property

Familiarity with contracts

Familiarity with tort law

Familiarity with criminal law

Public policy implications of law & economics

Normative critiques of law & economics

Formal writing on issues in law & economics

Review of microeconomic theory

REQUIRED TEXT: Law and Economics by Cooter and Ulen

GRADES: Grades for this course will be assigned on the basis of four take-home essay examinations. These are all to be eight to ten page FORMAL essays dealing with assigned topics - both the academic content, as well as the quality of the writing, will be part of the grade.

Here's a link to the TAKE-HOME EXAMS

CALENDAR

WEEK	TOPIC	READING
One	Intro	Chs 1, 2, & 3
Two	Property	Ch 4
Three	Property	Ch 5
	First Exam
Four	Contracts	Ch 6
Five	Contracts	Ch 7
	Second Exam
Six	Torts	Ch 8
Seven	Torts	Ch 9
	Third Exam
Eight	Legal Process	Ch 10
Nine	Criminal law	Ch 11
Ten	Criminal law	Ch 12
	Fourth Exam