Preaching to the choir: A response to Kaplow and Shavell's Fairness Versus Welfare

Abstract

This note is a critical response to Louis Kaplow and Steven Shavell's recent treatise on law and economics, Fairness Versus Welfare, in which they argue that legal decision-making should be conducted with the sole goal of welfare-maximization. After a brief summary of the book, this paper focuses on three primary problems with its contents and approach. First, the tautological nature of the authors' argument, which they acknowledge but downplay is discussed. Second, it is argued that while the authors give lip-service to 'tastes for fairness,' they refuse to acknowledge the implications of such preferences for their conclusions and then minimize their possible importance. Finally, this paper addresses what is possibly the most disappointing aspect of this work: the arrogance, condescension, and intolerance displayed throughout the book toward those with dissenting views.