Thomas J. Miles, "Superstars and the Law"

A feature of the entertainment industry is the concentration of earnings in a handful of performers—the superstars. Sherwin Rosen, a famed economist at the University of Chicago, developed a theory of superstars. This episode of Chicago’s Best Ideas (a series aimed to expose students, and especially 1Ls, to great ideas that are associated with our Law School and University, but then also to tell us what if anything they contribute to our modern understanding of law and society) revisits Rosen’s ideas about superstars and consider their extension to other types of “performers,” such as lawyers and other professional service providers, CEOs, and even corporations. Will superstars characterize more occupations and activities in the future? Does the growth of superstars contribute to economic inequality, and what, if anything, should the law do about it?

Thomas J. Miles is the Dean of the University of Chicago Law School and Clifton R. Musser Professor of Law and Economics.