The Becker-Posner Blog

The Becker-Posner Blog explores current issues in economics, law and policy.

Author: Co-author Gary Becker is an economics and sociology professor at the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business. He has authored seven books on the subject of economics, and he has also co-authored Social Economics: Market Behavior in a Social Environment with a fellow University of Chicago professor Kevin Murphy and co-authored The Economics of Life with his wife, Guity Nashat Becker. Blawg co-author Richard Posner is a judge on the Chicago-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit. He teaches part time at the University of Chicago Law School and has written 30 books, most recently How Judges Think, The Little Book of Plagiarism and Economic Analysis of Law.

Blawg Related Categories: Judiciary • Legal Theory • University of Chicago • Judge • Blawg 100 • Economics

Recent Posts from The Becker-Posner Blog

Are Newspapers Doomed?--Posner
A newspaper is a bundled product. A bundled product is one that combines a number of products the demands for which may be quite different--some consumers may want some of the products in the bundle,…
Yes, Newspapers are Doomed-Becker The number of general-purpose newspapers has been declining in cities ever since the growth of television, and the decline accelerated after the Internet was developed. The trend downward will continue, and…
Energy Prices, Offshore Drilling, and an "Excess" Profits Tax-Becker
Increases in energy prices sharply accelerated during the past year, as the price of oil more than doubled, and gasoline prices in United States rose by 25 percent. Responding to these price increases, Senator…
Oil Prices, Offshore and Alaska Drilling, and Excess Profits Taxes--Posner's Comment
Although I worry more than Becker does about the environmental consequences of the production and consumption of oil, and although I want oil prices to remain high--indeed to continue rising--I largely agree with his analysis…
Have We Lost the Moral Values That Undergird a Commercial Society?--Posner
David Brooks is one of the most thoughtful newspaper columnists. In a recent op-ed ("The Great Seduction," New York Times, June 10, 2008, p. A 23), he argues that the founders of the nation "built…
Borrowing and Consumption over the Life Cycle-Becker
The types of loans available to consumers have grown at unprecedented rates during the past 40 years. These include credit card debt, expanded availability of mortgages, student loans, payday loans, reverse mortgages, and many…
The Boom in College Education-Becker
The worldwide boom in college education during past several decades has been as remarkable as it was unexpected. Many economists in the United States were claiming in the 1970s that college education was overrated,…
The Boom in College Education--Posner
The increased percentage of persons who go to college is not surprising. Advances in technology have reduced the demand for brawn and increased the demand for brains. But several significant questions (concerning college education in…
The Cost of Infrastructure Deterioration--Posner
The term "infrastructure" is much used but lacks a clear definition. I shall use it to mean inputs, often provided by government rather than private enterprise, into a very large variety of products and services.…
Infrastructure and the Value of Time-Becker
Time is the most precious resource of men and women, and even older children. This is why it is disturbing that so much time is wasted through bad policies of the public authorities that…