Science, Politics, and the Evolution of Law and Neoclassical Economics

Abstract

James Hackney's article provocatively points our attention to very important and underexplored issues concerning the interplay of science and politics in the dramatic evolution of law and neoclassical economics since the Second World War. At the heart of his article is his rejection of any reductionist interpretation of the leading developments in this area. Modern law and neoclassical economics, he argues, cannot be accurately viewed either as merely a faithful, nonpoliticized application of modern social science or, alternatively, as simply a convenient vehicle for the promotion of particular contentious political beliefs. Hackney insists that law and neoclassical economics, both in general and in the specific doctrinal area he emphasizes, is about both science and politics. His article seeks to demonstrate this duality and, more broadly, to clarify the general nature and evolution of modern law and economics. Hackney highlights key general characteristics of twentieth-century intellectual thought and examines the influence of those characteristics, as well as the interplay between science and politics, in a series of landmark works on law and economics that have great relevance to recent debates over appropriate products liability standards.