Free markets and social justice

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Preferences and Politics -- 2. Social Norms and Social Roles -- 3. Incommensurability and Valuation in Law -- 4. Measuring Well-Being -- 5. Experts, Economists, and Democrats / Cass R. Sunstein and Richard Pildes -- 6. Why Markets Don't Stop Discrimination -- 7. The First Amendment in Cyberspace -- 8. On Property and Constitutionalism -- 9. Political Equality and Unintended Consequences -- 10. Endogenous Preferences, Environmental Law -- 11. Paradoxes of the Regulatory State -- 12. Health-Health Trade-Offs -- 13. Democratizing America Through Law -- 14. Congress, Constitutional Moments, and the Cost-Benefit State.

We are in the midst of a worldwide debate over whether there should be "more" or "less" government. As enthusiasm for free markets mounts - in both former Communist nations and in Western countries such as England and the United States - is it productive to attempt to solve problems through this "more/less" dichotomy?

Written by one of the preeminent voices in the legal/political arena today, this ground-breaking book moves beyond the "more/less" question by presenting a new conception of the relationship between free markets and social justice. Instead of asking whether there should be more or less regulation, Cass R. Sunstein asks readers to consider what kinds of regulations promote human well-being in different contexts.

He develops seven basic themes, involving the myth of laissez-faire, the importance of fair distribution, the puzzle of human rationality, the diversity of human goods, the role of social norms in forming people's preferences, the contextual character of choice, and the effects of law on human desires. As the latest word from an internationally renowned writer, Free Markets and Social Justice suggests a new way of understanding the role of the economic marketplace in a democratic society.