In the most recent post I mentioned a few other tasks beyond the ongoing Law and Economics book project. They involved...
(1) reading a book on prostitution policy and writing a review of it;
(2) revising markedly a second kidney compensation paper (paper one is now out, available here);
(3) writing a paper on the Parthenon Marbles at the British Museum; and,
(4) preparing a paper on vice policy for a conference in Russia.
Here is where progress stands...
(1) the book has been read, extensive notes taken, and a draft review has been fashioned but not polished; this project is now behind schedule, and I want to complete it soon;
(2) the revisions are complete and the kidney paper, for the time being, is in the able hands of my co-author;
(3) the Parthenon Marbles paper is essentially unstarted, but is now a top priority, with a schedule, and everything; and,
(4) the vice policy paper -- "Robust Alcohol Policy in Russia: Some Aspirational Measures" -- is complete, and can be downloaded at zero nominal charge here.
Showing posts with label or fragments from Work in Progress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label or fragments from Work in Progress. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Monday, September 8, 2014
Law and Econ Project, Update XIII
Well, in at least one dimension, the recent plan has been fulfilled: I made it all the way through the nutshell series book on Law and Economics. Enjoyed it, too. The seemingly more pressing matter of completing my own book also has been accomplished, more or less, though not according to the detailed plan. Nonetheless, everything (except the Acknowledgements) is about ready to go. There will be some frantic last minute revising over the next week or two -- so I won't adopt any deadlines for reading -- but the final version should look pretty much like the current one. Not sure whether that is good or bad news.
I'll append the Table of Contents. When I compare it with the version from 2.5 years ago, well, yes, changes (I hope improvements) have been made, but the similarities seem to dominate the differences. (Chapters 3, 4, and 5, largely are intact -- I wonder how much those intact sections themselves have been revised?) Hmmm. For my own edification, I'll put asterisks next to new or perhaps massively altered sections.
I'll append the Table of Contents. When I compare it with the version from 2.5 years ago, well, yes, changes (I hope improvements) have been made, but the similarities seem to dominate the differences. (Chapters 3, 4, and 5, largely are intact -- I wonder how much those intact sections themselves have been revised?) Hmmm. For my own edification, I'll put asterisks next to new or perhaps massively altered sections.
Concepts
in Law and Economics: A Guide for the Curious
Jim
Leitzel
Table of Contents
Introduction
The Original of Laura
Choice in
the Shadow of the Law
Chapter 1: E pluribus unum
Robin
Efficiency
Jeremy
Bentham
The Art of
the Deal
Willingness-to-pay
Why
Maximize Aggregate Wellbeing?
*Just
Compensation
Common Law
and Civil Law
The Coase
Theorem
Establishing
a Market to Erode Rent Controls
The Coase
Corollary
More on
Property Rights and Efficiency: The Tragedy of the Commons
The Reverse
of the Medal: Property Rights and the Anticommons
*An
Aside on View Blocking
*What
Happens When a Property Right is Infringed?
Chapter 2: Efficiency pluribus unum
*The Sixty Minute Law School
*Property, Mostly a Reprise
*Who
Owns Meteorites?
Contracts
Expectation
Damages and Efficient Breach
Oliver
Wendell Holmes, Jr., on Bad Men and the Law
Accidents
Strict
Liability
Negligence
Crime
*Purposes of
Punishing Crime
Efficiency When?
*Retribution?
Standards of Proof
Chapter 3: What’s done is done?
Bart and
Lance
Chicago Dibs
Patents
Advance Market Commitments
Preventive
and Punitory Measures
Firearm
Regulation
John
Stuart Mill
Low
Probability, High Punishment Regimes
Destruction
of Property: What’s Done Cannot Be Undone?
Moral
Rights: What’s Done Cannot Be Redone?
*Defacing
or Improving?
Intellectual
Property: What’s Done Can Be Done Repeatedly
Public
Goods
Nabokov and
Existence Value
Chapter 4: Squeezing a balloon
The
Peltzman Effect
*Endangered
Species
Art Again:
Resale Rights, or Droit de Suite
Using the Law to
Serve Distributional Goals
Squeezing
Copyright
Creative
Commons and Open Access
The De Facto Liberalization of the Copyright
Regime
A World
Without Copyright
Radiohead and Nine
Inch Nails
Copyright
Vacuums
Fashion
Design
Comedy
Squeezing
Newspapers
Hyperlocal
News
Deflating
Subsidies
Chapter 5: Deorum injuriae Diis curae
Low-cost Avoider
or Insurer
Products
Liability
Comparative
Negligence
Foreseeable
Misuse and Attractive Nuisance
Mill and
the Harm Principle
Pecuniary
Externalities
Blocked
Exchanges
Kidney Markets
The
Iranian Kidney Transplant Program
The Parthenon
Marbles and Cultural Property
Statutes
of Limitation and Adverse Possession
Chapter 6: Crooked timber
Enforcing
Contracts
Lochner
v. New York
(1905)
Dealing
with Uncertainty
Unconscionability
*Willpower
Lapses
The
Endowment Effect
Default
Rules
Organ
Donations, Reprise
*Selling
Kidneys
Vice,
Rationality, and Defaults
*Re-legalizing
Drugs
*An
Option to Commit to Opting Out: Self-Exclusion
*Preventive
and Punitory Measures, Again
*A Happy
Ending?
*Conclusions
References
*Glossary
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Law and Econ Project, Update XII
The schedule for revisions to the Law and Econ manuscript now looks like this. (I have to intersperse them with my work on a new kidney paper.) By the end of July, I want to have new versions of each of the Chapters. I am working on Chapter Two now. (This is a different Chapter Two from two years ago, as the end bits of Chapter One were siphoned off to form the basis of the new Chapter Two. So now there are six chapters.) I also want to complete the Glossary, which I currently am only about one-third of the way through. I want to print the end of July version, and then, by August 15, have produced a new complete draft. Finally, at the end of August, a third version should appear, one that I hope to submit to the unnamed university press publisher as the "final" version. Did I mention that the working title has evolved into Concepts in Law and Economics: A Guide for the Curious?
As for book reading related to the Law and Econ project, I have made lots of progress but not finished the nutshell series book on Law and Economics mentioned in the previous post. One book I did finish and found both helpful and fascinating is Bentham: A Guide for the Perplexed, by Philip Schofield, though the similarity of our subtitles is a coincidence. This book motivated me to visit Jeremy in person a couple weeks ago.
In early August I am slated to deliver two lectures related to the material in the book. I already am getting nervous over the prospect of preparing Power Point slides. I usually don't employ such slides, but the audience will involve some non-native English speakers, and I have found slides to be useful in similar settings in the past. But preparing the lectures might help me revise the manuscript, too, or at least I can hope.
As for book reading related to the Law and Econ project, I have made lots of progress but not finished the nutshell series book on Law and Economics mentioned in the previous post. One book I did finish and found both helpful and fascinating is Bentham: A Guide for the Perplexed, by Philip Schofield, though the similarity of our subtitles is a coincidence. This book motivated me to visit Jeremy in person a couple weeks ago.
In early August I am slated to deliver two lectures related to the material in the book. I already am getting nervous over the prospect of preparing Power Point slides. I usually don't employ such slides, but the audience will involve some non-native English speakers, and I have found slides to be useful in similar settings in the past. But preparing the lectures might help me revise the manuscript, too, or at least I can hope.
Monday, April 14, 2014
Law and Econ Project, Update XI, and a Contract
Well, here's some news: unnamed university press would like to publish the Law and Econ tome. And as I would like them to publish it, we have a meeting of the minds, and a signed contract. My goal is to send the "final" version, one I am happy with, on September 1, 2014 -- no snickering from those who recall some past (passed) deadlines. Lots of revisions to go, and as I mentioned before, I will start with the suggestions of the four reviewers. As I am looking over the current version, I see some holes that require completely new material, and that always takes some time. So I have a hard time laying out a schedule of revisions. But first I will go through the manuscript, without referencing the review comments (though even I remember some of them). Then I will start making the changes that I have identified, in concert with trying to address the reviewers' concerns. I have already looked over about 40% of the manuscript, and I hope to complete this first step, the remaining 60%, this week, let's say, by Saturday, April 19. Then, just two weeks or so later, on Sunday, May 4, I would like to have a new draft, with reviewer comments accounted for, in hand.Oh, here's a thought, I will have that version bound, to ease the next round of reading and revising.
In committing to reading, hmmm, well, I have never read the nutshell series book on Law and Economics, though I have started it. Now seems like a good time to take that on!
In committing to reading, hmmm, well, I have never read the nutshell series book on Law and Economics, though I have started it. Now seems like a good time to take that on!
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Law and Econ Project, Update X, etc.
OK, there has been a 16-month hiatus in posting. Does that mean there has been a 16-month hiatus in progress on the Law and Econ draft? Discriminating folks like myself are unwilling to reveal that sort of sensitive information.
But where do things stand? Well, I sent a revised -- yes, so there, there was "progress," I knew you would get it out of me -- manuscript to unnamed university press in October of 2013, and have received back three helpful sets of comments, with a fourth one in the pipeline, it seems. Irrespective of the manuscript's fate at unnamed university press, I feel like a few months of revisions are ahead of me -- even with my low standards, the manuscript isn't quite where I would like it to be right now. As for the nature of those revisions, I think for the first pass I will follow the advice of the anonymous reviewers. The hope is that the "continuous improvement" project will result in a tighter, more coherent manuscript. Right now I am happy with many of the individual sections, but not with the overall package. Perhaps I'll save more details for a follow-up post.
One part of the LandE project that has been upgraded, I think, is that concerning selling kidneys -- actually, multiple sections of the manuscript involve kidney sales, oddly enough. These revisions owe a lot to my friend Randy Beard, an expert on organ procurement, who kindly co-authored a symposium paper with me; a less-than-final version of the paper is here, in pdf format.
Back when this blog was "active" I used it to mention books that I was intending to read -- books both related and unrelated to the Law and Econ project. I am happy to report that in 2012 I really did finish reading The Knockoff Economy by Raustiala and Sprigman. Subsequently, I read three of the Oxford Introductions to American Law (Contracts, Property, and Torts, in that order -- I liked Torts the best), though I could do with a refresher on much (or all) of the material. The books that are in the pipeline by and large I am not willing to commit to reading at this point, even to the limited extent to which mentioning them on a blog is committing. Some of my reading continues to be devoted to behavioral economics, which I am slated to teach for the third time in the spring.
Today's return to nDrafts was motivated by a return to Five Drafts, a return that was itself motivated by a need to produce a vice policy paper in the next couple of months. And I have other blog projects that require attention, oh yes they do...
Well, it is good to be back with my online to-do list, even though it is hard to say why.
But where do things stand? Well, I sent a revised -- yes, so there, there was "progress," I knew you would get it out of me -- manuscript to unnamed university press in October of 2013, and have received back three helpful sets of comments, with a fourth one in the pipeline, it seems. Irrespective of the manuscript's fate at unnamed university press, I feel like a few months of revisions are ahead of me -- even with my low standards, the manuscript isn't quite where I would like it to be right now. As for the nature of those revisions, I think for the first pass I will follow the advice of the anonymous reviewers. The hope is that the "continuous improvement" project will result in a tighter, more coherent manuscript. Right now I am happy with many of the individual sections, but not with the overall package. Perhaps I'll save more details for a follow-up post.
One part of the LandE project that has been upgraded, I think, is that concerning selling kidneys -- actually, multiple sections of the manuscript involve kidney sales, oddly enough. These revisions owe a lot to my friend Randy Beard, an expert on organ procurement, who kindly co-authored a symposium paper with me; a less-than-final version of the paper is here, in pdf format.
Back when this blog was "active" I used it to mention books that I was intending to read -- books both related and unrelated to the Law and Econ project. I am happy to report that in 2012 I really did finish reading The Knockoff Economy by Raustiala and Sprigman. Subsequently, I read three of the Oxford Introductions to American Law (Contracts, Property, and Torts, in that order -- I liked Torts the best), though I could do with a refresher on much (or all) of the material. The books that are in the pipeline by and large I am not willing to commit to reading at this point, even to the limited extent to which mentioning them on a blog is committing. Some of my reading continues to be devoted to behavioral economics, which I am slated to teach for the third time in the spring.
Today's return to nDrafts was motivated by a return to Five Drafts, a return that was itself motivated by a need to produce a vice policy paper in the next couple of months. And I have other blog projects that require attention, oh yes they do...
Well, it is good to be back with my online to-do list, even though it is hard to say why.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Law and Econ Project, Update IX
The revisions that I foresaw in August were to:
(1) update Chapter One and the wealth maximization stuff;
(2) "think about revising the material on organ markets in light of Michael Sandel's book, What Money Can't Buy";
(3) and to print out a new, complete version.
In some sense I have accomplished all three, though the thinking about Sandel's book and organ markets has not resulted in any alterations to this point. The changes to Chapter One were pretty extensive, and I also changed the vice material in Chapter Five quite a bit -- though that chapter remains in flux.
What next? I think that I will prepare a subsection on the Sandel critique and organ markets, although whether it makes it into the manuscript is too soon to tell. The flux in Chapter Five has to be brought to an end. Beyond that, just the continuous improvement story...
My Law and Econ class starts soon, and that will help the revision process, I hope. One book that I intend to read in the next few weeks is The Knockoff Economy by Raustiala and Sprigman -- I already draw heavily upon their earlier work for the "Copyright Vacuums" part of the manuscript.
I mentioned in August that I am facing a deadline for a paper on Behavioral Economics and Drug Policy. The deadline has become pressing, without much progress so far, though I have secured a co-author! I imagine the next nDrafts update will concern that paper. But in the meantime, I have taken on another paper commitment, this one on organ procurement; again, I am soliciting for a co-author.
(1) update Chapter One and the wealth maximization stuff;
(2) "think about revising the material on organ markets in light of Michael Sandel's book, What Money Can't Buy";
(3) and to print out a new, complete version.
In some sense I have accomplished all three, though the thinking about Sandel's book and organ markets has not resulted in any alterations to this point. The changes to Chapter One were pretty extensive, and I also changed the vice material in Chapter Five quite a bit -- though that chapter remains in flux.
What next? I think that I will prepare a subsection on the Sandel critique and organ markets, although whether it makes it into the manuscript is too soon to tell. The flux in Chapter Five has to be brought to an end. Beyond that, just the continuous improvement story...
My Law and Econ class starts soon, and that will help the revision process, I hope. One book that I intend to read in the next few weeks is The Knockoff Economy by Raustiala and Sprigman -- I already draw heavily upon their earlier work for the "Copyright Vacuums" part of the manuscript.
I mentioned in August that I am facing a deadline for a paper on Behavioral Economics and Drug Policy. The deadline has become pressing, without much progress so far, though I have secured a co-author! I imagine the next nDrafts update will concern that paper. But in the meantime, I have taken on another paper commitment, this one on organ procurement; again, I am soliciting for a co-author.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Law and Econ Project, Update VIII
Well, three months have passed since I last recorded my progress to date and proclaimed my intended next steps. I have been busy with some other projects -- a trip abroad, moving house, being ill -- that have crowded out, to some extent, Law and Econ. The goals I previously set looking one week forward, however...
The next couple of months will involve producing a draft of a paper on Behavioral Economics and Drug Policy, so that also will cut into Law and Econ time. (I am thinking of reviving predecessor blog Five Drafts for the purpose of producing the new paper.) What I would like to do pretty soon, however (recall that the manuscript is supposed to be in continuous improvement mode), is to revise the Kaldor-Hicks and Wealth Maximization stuff in Chapter One in a pretty serious way, to think about revising the material on organ markets in light of Michael Sandel's book, What Money Can't Buy, and to print out a new, complete version of the manuscript. Not sure I have any Law and Econ reading I want to commit to, but I do hope to spend lots of time with Kaplow and Shavell's Fairness Versus Welfare -- a book that will help guide me, I think, in those envisioned Wealth Maximization changes in Chapter One.
(1) to finish reading Museums Matter, by James Cuno; (2) to revise the first two chapters of the L&E manuscript; and (3) to produce a new version of "The Museum of Law and Economics".......have been accomplished, if not in one week, at least within three months. I managed to read, as hoped, The Upside of Irrationality, by Dan Ariely. I also wrote a new Conclusions section to the L&E manuscript, and have upgraded Chapter Five (on behavioral law and econ, essentially), along with slight revisions to the rest of the manuscript.
The next couple of months will involve producing a draft of a paper on Behavioral Economics and Drug Policy, so that also will cut into Law and Econ time. (I am thinking of reviving predecessor blog Five Drafts for the purpose of producing the new paper.) What I would like to do pretty soon, however (recall that the manuscript is supposed to be in continuous improvement mode), is to revise the Kaldor-Hicks and Wealth Maximization stuff in Chapter One in a pretty serious way, to think about revising the material on organ markets in light of Michael Sandel's book, What Money Can't Buy, and to print out a new, complete version of the manuscript. Not sure I have any Law and Econ reading I want to commit to, but I do hope to spend lots of time with Kaplow and Shavell's Fairness Versus Welfare -- a book that will help guide me, I think, in those envisioned Wealth Maximization changes in Chapter One.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Law and Econ Project, Update VII
Now my worries, that in the absence of an externally-imposed deadline this commitment blog isn't a big help, are growing. But we press on. April 4 brought a new, bound version of the manuscript, this one even with a (half-baked) "Conclusions" chapter. The Table of Contents has not (otherwise) changed, though there was some upgrading of all of the chapters. Still haven't heard back from that university press that I sent the even worse draft to -- not a good sign.
I did indeed give the related talk on April 1, and that went pretty well. Afterwards, I wrote up a short talk (maybe 15 minutes) entitled "The Museum of Law of Economics," which I have had fun with. I hope to move that talk, as well as the new draft, into the "continuous improvement" mode. I don't much care for the current "Conclusions" to the draft manuscript, and may start that afresh as part of the improvement. For that matter, I don't like the Conclusions to the Museum talk, either. Conclusions are the bane of my existence.
Finished reading Willpower, which was easy reading and helpful for my Behavioral Econ class. Intended reading that I hope will be helpful for the L&E project includes Museums Matter, by James Cuno; How Judges Think, by Richard Posner; The Upside of Irrationality, by Dan Ariely (more for Behavioral Econ than for L&E); and possibly Loot, by Sharon Waxman. I have started reading all of them, but only Cuno and Ariely are on the front burners right now.
So, what to promise in a not-very-committed way? Next week, to have: (1) finished reading Museums Matter; (2) revised the first two chapters of the L&E manuscript; and (3) to have produced a new version of "The Museum of Law and Economics." Onwards...
I did indeed give the related talk on April 1, and that went pretty well. Afterwards, I wrote up a short talk (maybe 15 minutes) entitled "The Museum of Law of Economics," which I have had fun with. I hope to move that talk, as well as the new draft, into the "continuous improvement" mode. I don't much care for the current "Conclusions" to the draft manuscript, and may start that afresh as part of the improvement. For that matter, I don't like the Conclusions to the Museum talk, either. Conclusions are the bane of my existence.
Finished reading Willpower, which was easy reading and helpful for my Behavioral Econ class. Intended reading that I hope will be helpful for the L&E project includes Museums Matter, by James Cuno; How Judges Think, by Richard Posner; The Upside of Irrationality, by Dan Ariely (more for Behavioral Econ than for L&E); and possibly Loot, by Sharon Waxman. I have started reading all of them, but only Cuno and Ariely are on the front burners right now.
So, what to promise in a not-very-committed way? Next week, to have: (1) finished reading Museums Matter; (2) revised the first two chapters of the L&E manuscript; and (3) to have produced a new version of "The Museum of Law and Economics." Onwards...
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Law and Econ Project, Table of Contents
As promised....
Oh, Work in Progress has the temporary title Law and Economics: A Guide for the Curious. My guess is that the title will change a few more times.
Table of Contents
Oh, Work in Progress has the temporary title Law and Economics: A Guide for the Curious. My guess is that the title will change a few more times.
Table of Contents
Introduction
The Original of Laura
Choice in
the Shadow of the Law
Chapter 1: E pluribus unum
Robin
Efficiency
Jeremy
Bentham
The Art of
the Deal
Willingness-to-pay
Why
Maximize Wealth?
Common
Law and Civil Law
The Coase
Theorem
Establishing
a Market to Erode Rent Controls
The Coase
Corollary
More on
Property Rights and Efficiency: The Tragedy of the Commons
The Reverse
of the Medal: Property Rights and the Anticommons
Contracts
Efficiency
When?
Expectation
Damages and Efficient Breach
Oliver
Wendell Holmes, Jr., on Bad Men and the Law
Accidents
Strict
Liability
Negligence
Crime
Chapter 2: What’s done is done?
Bart and
Lance
Chicago Dibs
Patents
Advance Market Commitments
Preventive
and Punitory Measures
Firearm
Regulation
John
Stuart Mill
Low
Probability, High Punishment Regimes
Destruction
of Property: What’s Done Cannot Be Undone?
Moral
Rights: What’s Done Cannot Be Redone?
Intellectual
Property: What’s Done Can Be Done Repeatedly
Public
Goods
Nabokov and
Existence Value
Chapter 3: Squeezing a balloon
Using the
Law to Serve Distributional Goals
The
Peltzman Effect
Art Again:
Resale Rights, or Droit de Suite
Squeezing
Copyright
Creative
Commons
The De Facto Liberalization of the Copyright
Regime
A World
Without Copyright
Copyright
Vacuums
Fashion
Design
Comedy
Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails
Squeezing
Newspapers
Hyperlocal
News
Deflating
Subsidies
Chapter 4: Deorum injuriae Diis curae
Low-cost Avoider
or Insurer
Products
Liability
Comparative
Negligence
Foreseeable
Misuse and Attractive Nuisance
Mill and
the Harm Principle
Pecuniary
Externalities
Blocked
Exchanges
Organ
Markets
The
Iranian Kidney Transplant Program
The Parthenon
Marbles and Cultural Property
Statutes
of Limitation
Standards
of Proof
Chapter 5: Crooked timber
Enforcing
Contracts
Lochner v. New York (1905)
Dealing
with Uncertainty
Unconscionability
The Endowment
Effect
Default
Rules
Organ
Donations, Reprise
Vice,
Rationality, and Defaults
Attractive
Nuisance for Adults?
Conclusions (unwritten)
Glossary (unwritten)
References
Law and Econ Project, Update VI
Hmmm, well, there was a December 11 deadline....
I missed the deadline, but progress has been made, oh yes. The current draft is in the continuous revision phase. There is still no draft of the Conclusions, and no draft of the Glossary. The next revisions are slated for Chapters 4 and 5. I will shortly post the draft Table of Contents so we can see where things stand.
I prepared a prospectus and e-mailed it to a university press. The editor responded enthusiastically, and asked for the entire manuscript. I sent it, but haven't heard back - maybe the draft needs some more of that "continuous revision" before it is ready for distribution?
As for my reading plan, I managed to finish Adam Smith: An Enlightened Life, by Nicholas Phillipson -- it is superb. I abandoned for the nonce This is Your Country on Drugs, by Ryan Grim (2010), and managed to read only small portions of The Collapse of American Criminal Justice, by William J. Stuntz (2011). The Daniel Kahneman book, Thinking, Fast and Slow (2011), filled my time, and helped me decide to offer a course in behavioral economics next quarter. My current reading plan centers on Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength, by Roy F. Baumeister and John Tierney -- should be useful for that behavioral econ class.
As for LandE revisions, I intend to input some upgrades to Chapters 4 and 5 in the nest week or so. Hoping to get those Conclusions under way, too. I intend another bound version at that point. Scheduled to give a talk related to the manuscript on April 1, so want to prepare something for that, too.
I missed the deadline, but progress has been made, oh yes. The current draft is in the continuous revision phase. There is still no draft of the Conclusions, and no draft of the Glossary. The next revisions are slated for Chapters 4 and 5. I will shortly post the draft Table of Contents so we can see where things stand.
I prepared a prospectus and e-mailed it to a university press. The editor responded enthusiastically, and asked for the entire manuscript. I sent it, but haven't heard back - maybe the draft needs some more of that "continuous revision" before it is ready for distribution?
As for my reading plan, I managed to finish Adam Smith: An Enlightened Life, by Nicholas Phillipson -- it is superb. I abandoned for the nonce This is Your Country on Drugs, by Ryan Grim (2010), and managed to read only small portions of The Collapse of American Criminal Justice, by William J. Stuntz (2011). The Daniel Kahneman book, Thinking, Fast and Slow (2011), filled my time, and helped me decide to offer a course in behavioral economics next quarter. My current reading plan centers on Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength, by Roy F. Baumeister and John Tierney -- should be useful for that behavioral econ class.
As for LandE revisions, I intend to input some upgrades to Chapters 4 and 5 in the nest week or so. Hoping to get those Conclusions under way, too. I intend another bound version at that point. Scheduled to give a talk related to the manuscript on April 1, so want to prepare something for that, too.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Law and Econ Project, Update V
Almost one month since the previous update, and less than a month to go before the due date of what I now will call the polished draft of my Law and Econ manuscript. Uh oh.
My plan from one month ago involved rewriting the Preface, and printing out and binding an entire working draft. These tasks have been completed. Note, however, that I have cannily omitted mentioning another part of the plan, which was to draft a section of conclusions -- no progress there, as you might suspect from my attempt to censor discussion.
I also planned to finish reading Adam Smith: An Enlightened Life, by Nicholas Phillipson (2010) -- more failure. But I now have completed 213 of 284 pages of text, and I am keeping up with the endnotes as I go along. So I still have hopes of finishing this book, from which I am learning quite a bit. My other goal was to make some progress on reading This is Your Country on Drugs, by Ryan Grim (2010), and little has been achieved in this regard: I have read 32 of 252 pages. Hmmm. For December 11, let me toss one more book into the pile, The Collapse of American Criminal Justice, by William J. Stuntz (2011). (Wow, in providing the Amazon link I read a review, which indicates that the author of this recently-published book has passed away. I hadn't heard this sad news before, though now I see that one of the blurbs on the back cover refers to the author's work in the past tense. Sad news indeed.) I have assigned one chapter of the Stuntz book to my Law and Econ class, too.
So what is left, writing-wise, for December 11? A full revision of the L&E manuscript, along with the preparation of the conclusions. Earlier I thought I might print out and bind an intermediate version before December 11, but now I am not so sure. Aiming for that polished draft, though....
My plan from one month ago involved rewriting the Preface, and printing out and binding an entire working draft. These tasks have been completed. Note, however, that I have cannily omitted mentioning another part of the plan, which was to draft a section of conclusions -- no progress there, as you might suspect from my attempt to censor discussion.
I also planned to finish reading Adam Smith: An Enlightened Life, by Nicholas Phillipson (2010) -- more failure. But I now have completed 213 of 284 pages of text, and I am keeping up with the endnotes as I go along. So I still have hopes of finishing this book, from which I am learning quite a bit. My other goal was to make some progress on reading This is Your Country on Drugs, by Ryan Grim (2010), and little has been achieved in this regard: I have read 32 of 252 pages. Hmmm. For December 11, let me toss one more book into the pile, The Collapse of American Criminal Justice, by William J. Stuntz (2011). (Wow, in providing the Amazon link I read a review, which indicates that the author of this recently-published book has passed away. I hadn't heard this sad news before, though now I see that one of the blurbs on the back cover refers to the author's work in the past tense. Sad news indeed.) I have assigned one chapter of the Stuntz book to my Law and Econ class, too.
So what is left, writing-wise, for December 11? A full revision of the L&E manuscript, along with the preparation of the conclusions. Earlier I thought I might print out and bind an intermediate version before December 11, but now I am not so sure. Aiming for that polished draft, though....
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Law and Econ Update
Heading to the airport presently, but updating nDrafts is a priority. I did indeed complete this round of revisions for Chapters 2 and 3; even managed to continue to tinker with the wealth maximization stuff in Chapter 1. None of them are in final form, alas. As for reading, I was aiming to get to page (.6*291= about) 175 of the Banner book on property law. Here, less successful, though I am 56% of the way through, at page 164.
My reading during my trip will not be focused on the Law and Econ project. I will try to read Marx's General by Tristram Hunt; I teach some Marx in the fall, and this book is about Friedrich Engels. In an effort not to neglect L&E too much, however, I also intend to make some revisions on the hard copies of Chapters 4 and 5.
Hope to check back in in about 9 days...
My reading during my trip will not be focused on the Law and Econ project. I will try to read Marx's General by Tristram Hunt; I teach some Marx in the fall, and this book is about Friedrich Engels. In an effort not to neglect L&E too much, however, I also intend to make some revisions on the hard copies of Chapters 4 and 5.
Hope to check back in in about 9 days...
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Inauspicious Start
My goals for the past week were to make revisions to Chapter 2 and to prepare revisions for Chapter 3; plus, I hoped to make it halfway through American Property, by Stuart Banner. Things didn't quite work out as intended.
I have prepared but not finished making (that is, entering into the computer) revisions of Chapter 2; I did not look at Chapter 3. The Banner book is 291 pages of normal text, followed by many pages of notes, which I keep up with as I read the text. So to be halfway through, I would have to have read about 146 pages of the text. In truth, I have finished but 104 pages, about 35% done. So my plans were under-fulfilled for both reading and writing.
The good news is that I wrote a couple of short pieces on vice policy -- one on drugs, one on casino gambling. Not sure either of them will ever see the light of day, but I can derive a sense of accomplishment from such minor victories. I also returned to Chapter 1 and changed the Kaldor-Hicks material -- eliminating the use of the Kaldor-Hicks terminology -- and added a short section on willingness-to-pay. The Banner book also contributed to Chapter 1, in discussing the development of the law of takings. Specifically, when does the government have to pay compensation for a regulation that reduces the value of privately owned property? Banner gives a nice historical discussion of how this law developed.
At the end of the week I will be heading out of town, and will be beyond work for a week or so. I will try to check into nDrafts on Friday, then. What do I hope to have accomplished by then? Uh, how about finish entering those revisions to Chapter 2, plus make the Chapter 3 revisions? I'll aim to have 60% of the Banner book behind me at that point, too -- I already am scaling back my ambitions.
I have prepared but not finished making (that is, entering into the computer) revisions of Chapter 2; I did not look at Chapter 3. The Banner book is 291 pages of normal text, followed by many pages of notes, which I keep up with as I read the text. So to be halfway through, I would have to have read about 146 pages of the text. In truth, I have finished but 104 pages, about 35% done. So my plans were under-fulfilled for both reading and writing.
The good news is that I wrote a couple of short pieces on vice policy -- one on drugs, one on casino gambling. Not sure either of them will ever see the light of day, but I can derive a sense of accomplishment from such minor victories. I also returned to Chapter 1 and changed the Kaldor-Hicks material -- eliminating the use of the Kaldor-Hicks terminology -- and added a short section on willingness-to-pay. The Banner book also contributed to Chapter 1, in discussing the development of the law of takings. Specifically, when does the government have to pay compensation for a regulation that reduces the value of privately owned property? Banner gives a nice historical discussion of how this law developed.
At the end of the week I will be heading out of town, and will be beyond work for a week or so. I will try to check into nDrafts on Friday, then. What do I hope to have accomplished by then? Uh, how about finish entering those revisions to Chapter 2, plus make the Chapter 3 revisions? I'll aim to have 60% of the Banner book behind me at that point, too -- I already am scaling back my ambitions.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Reading this Week
I eventually used the Five Drafts project to commit to reading as well as to writing, and I will try to extend that feature to nDrafts, too. For this week, my Law and Econ reading goal is to get at least halfway into American Property, by Stuart Banner (Harvard University Press, 2011). I have some other academic reading that is not related to the Law and Econ Work in Progress, but I am not ready to commit to that just yet.
The Law and Economics Project
The project that I would like to make serious progress on during the rest of 2011 involves a book manuscript concerning Law and Economics. Five chapters (out of an envisioned, er, five chapters (plus preface and conclusions and other extraneous(?) material)) already exist in rough draft form. My goal is to revise and improve these chapters, create the related non-chapterial material, and mold the whole thing into a sleek, coherent, publishable book. Or at least to develop a complete manuscript that is not too embarrassing.
OK, maybe I will invoke a deadline or two, in the spirit of the nDraft commitment device. December 11, 2011: by that date I would like to have a complete, new and improved draft of the Law and Econ book. Notice that I do not yet have a title, or at least one I am willing to publicize -- OK, I'll have to come up with a title by December 11, too. In honor of James Joyce, perhaps the draft manuscript for the time being will go by the name fragments from Work in Progress.
During the upcoming week, I want to make revisions to Chapter Two, and begin to revise Chapter Three. "Making" revisions entails entering the changes into the e-copy, not just producing comments on a hard copy.
OK, maybe I will invoke a deadline or two, in the spirit of the nDraft commitment device. December 11, 2011: by that date I would like to have a complete, new and improved draft of the Law and Econ book. Notice that I do not yet have a title, or at least one I am willing to publicize -- OK, I'll have to come up with a title by December 11, too. In honor of James Joyce, perhaps the draft manuscript for the time being will go by the name fragments from Work in Progress.
During the upcoming week, I want to make revisions to Chapter Two, and begin to revise Chapter Three. "Making" revisions entails entering the changes into the e-copy, not just producing comments on a hard copy.
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