Eric Posner
Kirkland and Ellis Professor of Law
1111 East 60th Street
Chicago, IL 60637
phone: 773 702-0425
email: eposner@uchicago.edu

Publications (Books | Articles | Book Reviews, Comments, and Other Short Pieces )

Books

Social Norms, Nonlegal Sanctions, and the Law (Edward Elgar 2007) (editor).

Terror in the Balance: Security, Liberty and the Courts(Oxford University Press 2007) (with Adrian Vermeule).

New Foundations of Cost-Benefit Analysis (Harvard University Press 2006) (with Matthew Adler).

The Limits of International Law (Oxford University Press 2005) (with Jack Goldsmith). [see video discussion of book]

Cost-Benefit Analysis: Legal, Philosophical, and Economic Perspectives (University of Chicago Press 2001) (edited with Matthew Adler).

Chicago Lectures in Law and Economics (Foundation Press 2000) (editor).

Law and Social Norms (Harvard University Press 2000). Japanese edition (Bokutakusha 2002); Chinese edition (China University of Political Science and Law Publishing House, forthcoming); Taiwanese edition (Angle Publishing Company 2006).

Articles

"Out of Commission," Slate Magazine (February 13, 2008) (with Jack Goldsmith). 

"The International Protection of Cultural Property: Some Skeptical Observations," Chicago Journal of International Law (forthcoming).

"A Critique of the Odious Debt Doctrine," Law & Contemporary Problems (forthcoming) (with Albert Choi).

"International Human Rights and Global Warming," University of Pennsylvania Law Review (forthcoming).

"Timing Rules and Legal Institutions," 121 Harvard Law Review 543 (2007) (with Jacob Gersen).

“The Case for For-Profit Charities,” 93 Virginia Law Review 2017 (2007) (with Anup Malani).

"The Credible Executive," University of Chicago Law Review (forthcoming 2007) (with Adrian Vermeule).

"An Economic Analysis of State and Individual Responsibility Under International Law," American Law and Economics Review (forthcoming 2007) (with Alan Sykes).

"Social Norms and Economic Analysis of the Law," in Economic Analysis of Law: A European Perspective, Aristides N. Hatzis, ed. (forthcoming 2007).

"Climate Change and International Human Rights Litigation: A Critical Appraisal," 155 University of Pennsylvania Law Review 1925 (2007).

"The International Protection of Cultural Property: Some Skeptical Observations," 8 The University of Chicago Journal of International Law 213 (2007).

"Symposium: Originalism and Emergencies: A Reply to Lawson," 87 Boston University Law Review 313 (2007) (with Adrian Vermeule).

"Pay China to cut greenhouse gas emissions," Financial Times 11
(August 6, 2007) (with Cass Sunstein).

"The Second-Order Structure of Immigration Law," 59 Stanford Law Review 809 (2007) (with Adam B. Cox).

"Signing Statements and Executive Power," 23 Constitutional Commentary 307 (2007) (with Curtis Bradley).

"Debate: Chevronizing Foreign Relations," 116 Yale Law Journal 1170 (2007) (with Cass R. Sunstein).

"Should Coercive Interrogation Be Legal?" 104 Michigan Law Review 671 (2006) (with Adrian Vermeule).

"'Humanitarian' wars carry the risk of worse atrocities," San Jose Mercury News OP1 (October 4, 2006).

"The Humanitarian War Myth," The Washington Post B07 (October 1, 2006).

"Holding Internet Service Providers Accountable," 14 Supreme Court Economic Review 221 (2006) (with Douglas Lichtman).

"Holding Internet Service Providers Accountable," 14 Supreme Court Economic Review 221 (2006) (with Douglas Lichtman), reprinted inThe Law and Economics of Cybersecurity (Mark F. Grady and Francesco Parisi eds. 2006).

"The Decline of the International Court of Justice," in International Conflict Resolution 111 (Stefan Voigt, Max Albert, and Dieter Schmidtchen eds. 2006).

"International Law: A Welfarist Approach," 73 University Chicago Law Review 487 (2006).

"International Law and the Rise of China," 7 Chicago Journal International Law 1 (2006) (with John Yoo).

"The Law of Other States," 59 Stanford Law Review 131 (2006) (with Cass Sunstein).

"Emergencies and Democratic Failure," 92 Virginia Law Review 1091 (2006) (with Adrian Vermeule).

"Social Norms and Economic Analysis of the Law," in Economic Analysis of Law: A European Perspective (Aristides N. Hatzis ed., 2006).

"There Are No Penalty Default Rules in Contract Law," Florida State University Law Review (2006).

"Optimal War and Jus ad Bellum," 93 Georgetown Law Journal 993 (2005) (with Alan Sykes).

"International Law and the Disaggregated State," 32 Florida State University Law Review 797 (2005).

"Dollars and Death," 72 University Chicago Law Review 537 (2005) (with Cass Sunstein).

"Is the International Court of Justice Biased?" 34 Journal Legal Studies 599 (2005) (with Miguel de Figueiredo).

"Political Trials in Domestic and International Law," 55 Duke Law Journal 75 (2005).

"Judicial Independence in International Tribunals," 93 California Law Review 1 (2005) (with John Yoo).

"Holding Internet Service Providers Accountable," University of Chicago Law & Economics, Olin Working Paper No. 217 (July 2004) (with Douglas Lichtman).

"A Theory of International Adjudication," University of Chicago Law & Economics, Olin Working Paper No. 206 (February 2004) (with John Yoo).

"Accommodating Emergencies," University of Chicago Public Law Working Paper No. 48 (September 2003) (with Adrian Vermeule).

"Transitional Justice as Ordinary Justice," 117 Harvard Law Review761 (2003) (with Adrian Vermeule).

"Do States Have a Moral Obligation to Comply with International Law?" 55 Stanford Law Review1901 (2003).

"A Theory of the Laws of War," 70 University Chicago Law Review 297 (2003).

"Reparations for Slavery and Other Historical Injustices," 103 Columbia Law Review 689 (2003) (with Adrian Vermeule).

"The Jurisprudence of Greed,"151 University Pennsylvania Law Review 1097 (2003).

"Four Economic Perspectives on American Labor Law and the Problem of Social Conflict," 159 Journal Institutional and Theoretical Economics 101 (2003).

"Economic Analysis of Contract Law After Three Decades: Success or Failure?," 112 Yale Law Journal 829 (2003).

"Interring the Nondelegation Doctrine," 69 University Chicago Law Review1721 (2002) (with Adrian Vermeule).

"Moral and Legal Rhetoric in International Relations: A Rational Choice Perspective," 31 Journal Legal Studies S115 (2002) (with Jack Goldsmith).

"Controlling Agencies with Net Benefit Accounts: A Thought Experiment," 150 University Pennsylvania Law Review 1473 (2002).

"Social Norms and Economic Analysis of the Law," in Economic Analysis of Law: A European Perspective, Aristides N. Hatzis ed. (Edward Elgar 2003).

"The Law and Economics of Consumer Finance," 4 American Law and Economic Review162 (2002) (with Richard Hynes).

"Legislative Entrenchment: A Reappraisal," 111 Yale Law Journal 1665 (2002) (with Adrian Vermeule).

"Fear and the Regulatory Model of Counterterrorism," 25 Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy 681 (2002).

"Economic Analysis of Contract Law after Three Decades: Success of Failure?" University of Chicago Law and Economics Working Paper No. 146 (2002).

"Law and the Emotions," 89 Georgetown Law Journal 1977 (2001).

"Controlling Agencies with Cost-Benefit Analysis: A Positive Political Theory Perspective," 68 University of Chicago Law Review 1137 (2001).

Cost-Benefit Analysis as a Solution to a Principal-Agent Problem, 53 Administrative Law Review 289 (2001).

The Design and Interpretation of Contracts: Why Complexity Matters," 95 Northwestern University Law Review 91 (2000) (with Karen Eggleston and Richard Zeckhauser).

"Agency Theory in Law and Economics," in Chicago Lectures in Law and Economics, Eric A. Posner ed. (2000).

"Introduction to the Conference on Cost-Benefit Analysis," 29 Journal of Legal Studies 837 (2000) (with Matthew Adler).

"Implementing Cost-Benefit Analysis When Preferences Are Distorted," 29 Journal of Legal Studies 1105 (2000) (with Matthew Adler).

"Law and Social Norms: The Case of Tax Compliance," 86 Virginia Law Review 1781 (2000).

Review of Peter Newman, ed., The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics and the Law, 110 Economic Journal 824 (2000).

"Understanding the Resemblance Between Modern and Traditional Customary International Law," 40 Virginia Journal International Law 639 (2000) (with Jack Law Goldsmith).

"A Theory of Contract Law Under Conditions of Radical Judicial Error," 94 Northwestern University Law Review 749 (2000).

"Contract Remedies: Foreseeability, Precaution, Causation, and Mitigation," in The Encyclopedia of Law and Economics, Boudewijn Bouckaert and Gerrit De Geest, eds. (Edward Elgar 2000).

"Rethinking Cost-Benefit Analysis," 109 Yale Law Journal 165 (1999) (with Matthew Adler).

"A Theory of Customary International Law," 66 University Chicago Law Review 1113 (1999) (with Jack Law Goldsmith).

"Should Debtors Be Forced into Chapter 13?," 32 Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review 965 (1999).

"Arbitration and the Harmonization of International Commercial Law: A Defense of Mitsubishi," 39 Virginia Journal International Law 647 (1999).

"Shaming White Collar Criminals under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines," 42 Journal Law & Economics 365 (1999) (with Dan M. Kahan).

"Family Law and Social Norms," in The Fall and Rise of Freedom of Contract, Frank Buckley, ed. (Duke University Press 1999).

"The Decline of Formality in Contract Law," in The Fall and Rise of Freedom of Contract, Frank Buckley, ed. (Duke University Press 1999).

"A Positive Theory of Chapter 11," 74 NYU Law Review 161 (1999) (with Kevin A. Kordana).

"The Demand for Human Cloning," in Clones and Clones: Facts and Fantasies About Human Cloning, Martha C. Nussbaum and Cass R. Sunstein, eds. (W.W. Norton 1998) (with Richard A. Posner). Reprinted, with a postscript, in 27 Hofstra Law Review 579 (1999).

"The Strategic Basis of Principled Behavior: A Critique of the Incommensurability Thesis," 146 University Pennsylvania Law Review 1185 (1998).

"Symbols, Signals, and Social Norms in Politics and the Law," 27 Journal Legal Studies 765 (1998)

"The Parol Evidence Rule, the Plain Meaning Rule, and the Principles of Contractual Interpretation," 146 University Pennsylvania Law Review 533 (1998).

"The Political Economy of the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978," 96 Michigan Law Review 47 (1997).

"Altruism, Status, and Trust in the Law of Gifts and Gratuitous Promises," 1997 Wisconsin Law Review 567 (1997).

"The Legal Regulation of Religious Groups," 2 Legal Theory 33 (1996).

"Law, Economics, and Inefficient Norms," 144 University Pennsylvania Law Review1697 (1996).

"The Regulation of Groups: The Influence of Legal and Nonlegal Sanctions on Collective Action," 63 University Chicago Law Review 133 (1996).

"Contract Law in the Welfare State: A Defense of Usury Laws, the Unconscionability Doctrine, and Related Limitations on the Freedom to Contract," 24 Journal Legal Studies283 (1995).

Book Reviews, Comments, and Other Short Pieces

Review of Robert E. Scott and Paul B. Stephan, The Limits of Leviathan: Contract Theory and the Enforcement of International Law, American Journal of International Law, 101 American Journal of International Law 509 (2007).

Review of Jeremy A. Rabkin, Law without Nations?: Why Constitutional Government Requires Sovereign States, Perspectives on Politics (forthcoming).

"The New Race for the Arctic," The Wall Street Journal A8 (August 3, 2007).

"Agencies Should Ignore Distant-Future Generations," 74 University of Chicago Law Review 139 (2007).

"What the Cold War Taught Us," The Wall Street Journal A9 (April 21, 2007).

"Response - On Learning From Others," 59 Stanford Law Review 1309 (2007) (with Cass R. Sunstein).

"Detention, not trial, for terror suspects," The Star-Ledger 15 (August 7, 2006) (with Jack Goldsmith).

"Humanitarian intervention usually makes matters worse," The Washington Post B7 (October 1, 2006) (also published in Guelph Mercury (Ontario Canada) (October 3, 2006), The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 15A (October 11, 2006)).

Review of Tal Becker, Terrorism and the State: Rethinking the Rules of State Responsibility, 121 Political Science Quarterly 505 (2006).

"A Better Way on Detainees," The Washington Post A17 (August 4, 2006) (with Jack Goldsmith).

"Signing Statements: It's a President's Right," Boston Globe (August 3, 2006) (with Curtis Bradley).

"The New International Law Scholarship," 34 Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Literature 463 (2006).

"Sins of the Fatherland," The Boston Globe E4 (March 5, 2006).

"Reply to Helfer and Slaughter," 93 California Law Review 957 (2005) (with John Yoo).

"The Politics of Saddam's Trial," openDemocracy.net, October 31, 2005, republished in German translation as "Recht in Verlegenheit," Sà à ¼ddeutsche Zeitung, Nov. 28, 2005, p. 15.

"Justice Within Limits," The New York Times A20 (September 26, 2005).

"Judicial Cliches on Terrorism,"The Washington Post (August 8, 2005) (with Adrian Vermeule).

"Where's the Old Bolton When We Need Him?" Los Angeles Times B13 (April 19, 2005) (with John Yoo).

"All Hail...King George?" Foreign Policy Online (March 2005).

"Reply to Helfer and Slaughter," 93 California Law Review 957 (2005) (with John Yoo).

"All Justice, Too, Is Local,"The New York Times, December 30, 2004, p. A23.

"Law," in The Encyclopedia of Social Measurement 463 (Kimberly Kempf-Leonard ed. 2005).

"Law, Examples of Social Science Methods Used in," in the Encyclopedia of Social Measurement, Kimberly Kempf-Leonard, ed. (2005).

"Contract Theory," in The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Law and Legal Theory 138, Martin P. Golding and William A. Edmundson, eds. (2005).

"Terrorism and the Laws of War," 5 Chicago Journal International Law423 (2005).

"Remarks on the Alien Tort Claims Act and Transitional Justice," 98 American Society International Law Proceedings 56 (2004).

"A Torture Memo and Its Tortuous Critics," The Wall Street Journal A22 (July 6, 2004) (with Adrian Vermeule).

"Emergencies and Political Change: A Reply to Tushnet," 56 Stanford Law Review1593 (with Adrian Vermeule).

"The Alien Tort Statute and Transitional Justice," ASIL Proceedings (forthcoming).

"Bring Back the Baathists," The New York TimesA23 (April 28, 2004).

"International Court of Hubris," Wall Street Journal A18 (April 7, 2004) (with John Yoo).

"Evaluating Transfer Regulations," 26 Regulation 42 (2004).

"Reign of Terror," Chicago Tribune (January 18, 2004) (with John Yoo).

"Bankuptcy Act of 1978," in 1 Major Acts of Congress 59, Brian K. Landsberg, ed. (2003).

"The Patriot Act Under Fire," Wall Street Journal A10 (December 9, 2003) (with John Yoo).

"The Nondelegation Doctrine: A Postmortem," 70 University Chicago Law Review 1331 (2003) (with Adrian Vermeule).

"International Agreement: A Rational Choice Approach," 44 Virginia Journal International Law 113 (2003) (with Jack Goldsmith).

"Tobacco Regulation or Litigation?" Review of W. Kip Viscusi, Smoke-Filled Rooms, 70 University Chicago Law Review 1141 (2003).

"Crimes and Punishment," The Wall Street Journal (April 11, 2003) (with Adrian Vermeule).

Forward to the Japanese Edition of Law and Social Norms, Ota Shozo et al. trans. (2002).

"When Reforming Accounting, Don't Forget Regulation," Policy Matters 2, AEI-Brookings Joint Center (August 2002).

Comment on Jean Braucher's Means Testing Consumer Bankruptcy, Fordham Journal Corp. Law(2002).

"Introduction to a Conference on Rational Choice and International Law," 31 Journal Legal Studies S1 (2002).

"Further Thoughts on Customary International Law," 23 Michigan Journal International Law 191 (2002) (with Jack Goldsmith).

"The Signaling Model of Social Norms: Further Thoughts," 36 University Richmond Law Review 465 (2002).

Review of Robin Paul Malloy, Law and Market Economy, 18 Economics and Philosophy 183 (2002).

Review of Jody S. Kraus and Steven D. Walt, eds., The Jurisprudential Foundations of Corporate and Commercial Law, 112 Ethics 626 (2002).

"Strategies of Constitutional Scholarship," Review of Robert D. Cooter, The Strategic Constitution, 26 Law & Social Inquiry 529 (2001).

"Law and Economics for the Masses," Review of David Friedman, Law's Order, Jurist (2000).

Review of Peter Newman, ed., The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics and the Law, 110 Economic Journal 824 (2000).

"Law and Regret," Review of E. Allan Farnsworth, Changing Your Mind, 98 Michigan Law Review1468 (2000).

"Notes Toward a Theory of Customary International Law," 92 ASIL Proceedings 53 (1998) (with Jack Law Goldsmith).

"Efficient Norms," in The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics and the Law, Peter Newman, ed. (Macmillan 1998).

"Standards, Rules, and Social Norms," 21 Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy 101 (1997).

"Norms, Formalities, and the Statute of Frauds: A Comment," 144 University Pennsylvania Law Review1971 (1996).

Works in Progress

Covenants Not to Compete from an Incomplete Contract Perspective (with Alexander Triantis and George Triantis).

State Justices Project (with Stephen Choi and Mitu Gulati).

Treaties, State Size, and Development (with Tom Miles).