brazenandtenured- The American Road to FascismJust posted this piece on ssrn. Here is the abstract: The U.S. Presidential election of 2016 occurred amidst a disturbingly reminiscent coalescence of patterns — the economic displacement of the working class, the protracted paralysis of the legislative branch, the … Continue reading →brazenandtenured
- Final Exams (Suggested Templates)In light of the recent election and the desire of professors to remain relevant, here are some suggested templates for use in drafting final exams within your department. Economics What does the high-end commercial construction business teach us about … Continue reading →brazenandtenured
- This is Not a Law Review ArticleBy Pierre Schlag * March 31, 2016 Keywords: law review article, absurd, cass sunstein Abstract: This short piece [does not] describe the form, structure and vexations of the law review article qua scholarly artifact. It also [does not] contain Professor … Continue reading →Pierre Schlag
- The Law Review ArticleJust posted on ssrn and bepress: The Law Review Article By Pierre Schlag * March 11, 2016 Keywords: law review article, absurd, cass sunstein, Abstract: This very short piece describes the form, structure and vexations of the law review … Continue reading →brazenandtenured
- American Absurd(Pre-order from Amazon)Pierre Schlag
- Dear Black People, Part TwoNine African Americans—a beloved pastor, a track coach, and a grandmother among them—were murdered by a White racist who, in his own words, hoped to spark a civil war and get his country back. It is obvious that the killer/terrorist … Continue reading →Sarah Krakoff
- Dear Black PeopleDear Black People, I just wanted to write to say I am sorry about Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, and the others too numerous too list. About Brown, the process that resulted in a decision not to indict Darren … Continue reading →Sarah Krakoff
- Coase’s Conception of Production Factor Costs (and the Coasean Challenge)Here I want to lay out Coase’s conception of production factor costs as articulated in The Problem of Social Cost. Coase’s conception of production factor costs has very significant implications for what might be called the “Coasean Challenge”–a challenge which in my view has been … Continue reading →Pierre Schlag
- Coase’s Critique of the Neoclassical Model–Coase Minus the Coase TheoremCoase Minus the Coase Theorem, is among other things an attempt to retrieve the meaning of Ronald Coase’s famous article, The Problem of Social Cost, 3 J. L. & Econ. 1 (1960) As I try to show, Coase advanced a … Continue reading →Pierre Schlag
- Earth Day, Dog Whistles, and Zero Sum PoliticsThe Supreme Court’s decision today in Schuette v. Bamn would seem to have little to do with Earth Day. The Court, in a fractured majority decision, upheld Michigan’s voter-enacted ban on race based affirmative action programs in state institutions, including … Continue reading →Sarah Krakoff
- The American Road to Fascism
Author Archives: Pierre Schlag
This is Not a Law Review Article
By Pierre Schlag * March 31, 2016 Keywords: law review article, absurd, cass sunstein Abstract: This short piece [does not] describe the form, structure and vexations of the law review article qua scholarly artifact. It also [does not] contain Professor … Continue reading
Posted in Experimental, Random Jurisprudence, Uncategorized
Tagged absurd, jurisprudence, law school, legal academia
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American Absurd
(Pre-order from Amazon)
Posted in Experimental, Nature/Culture, Politics, Uncategorized
Tagged absurd, academia, culture, law, politics
1 Comment
Coase’s Conception of Production Factor Costs (and the Coasean Challenge)
Here I want to lay out Coase’s conception of production factor costs as articulated in The Problem of Social Cost. Coase’s conception of production factor costs has very significant implications for what might be called the “Coasean Challenge”–a challenge which in my view has been … Continue reading
Posted in Organized, Politics, Random Jurisprudence
Tagged coase, coase theorem, economics, jurisprudence, politics, Teaching Moment
2 Comments
Coase’s Critique of the Neoclassical Model–Coase Minus the Coase Theorem
Coase Minus the Coase Theorem, is among other things an attempt to retrieve the meaning of Ronald Coase’s famous article, The Problem of Social Cost, 3 J. L. & Econ. 1 (1960) As I try to show, Coase advanced a … Continue reading
The New Normal
So is this the New Normal? The question gets asked about lots of things—Washington politics, the economy, terrorism, infrastructure, the financial markets. And the question gets asked anxiously because as a normal—as a baseline—this new normal (whatever it may be) … Continue reading
Facts (The)
These little items are trouble. Let me state right off that I have not always been on entirely friendly terms with “the facts.” We have had a long and, at times, uneasy relation. Things took a bad turn early. I … Continue reading
Mayan End of the World Canceled (A Brazenandtenured Exclusive)
Apparently, through some rather incredible and oddly parallel set of mistakes, the ending of the world will not happen on December 21st. Instead, it appears the world has already ended on November 10th. The mistake is a moment of some … Continue reading
The Great GOP Identity Search
In the wake of the great Republican defeat (and despite the distraction of the Petraeus Affair) pols and pundits continue to offer advice to the Republican Party as to how it might reform itself in order to…. well, do better … Continue reading
Book Review (and subtext)
The recent publication of […….] by Professor X marks a moment in the history of […….]. It establishes him as one of the leading, if not the leading, authority on the subject of […….]. Professor X works at Zip Code Law … Continue reading
Posted in BAT Reviews, Experimental, Random Jurisprudence
Tagged decadence, jurisprudence, legal academia, pragmatism
1 Comment
We Built It (Part II–Factors of Production)
“We built it.” So runs the mantra of the GOP. To which there is only one possible response: Well, actually no you didn’t. And let me explain why since it’s not addressed in my last post on this subject. … Continue reading
We Built It (Part I Losing It)
We built it. It. We. Not you. Not the government. It belongs to us. It is ours. We work harder than you. You cannot know how hard we work to build our small businesses. (100 to 1500). We work harder than our workers who … Continue reading
Posted in Experimental
3 Comments
Italy and The Case Method
Last week I was in Italy for a couple lectures. I love going to Europe for talks. Among other things, it reminds me how cloistered and parochial we are in the American legal academy. It shakes me out of my … Continue reading
Quantitative Tie-Breakers (Theory Moves)
Quantitative Tie-Breakers: [kwon-ti-tey-tiv tahy brey-kers] Noun Phrase The fundamental issue in the final stages of appellate adjudication almost always takes the form, “How can something that is inescapably two or more things at once be only just one thing.” (Apologies to Thomas Reed Powell.) … Continue reading
Posted in Experimental, Theory Moves
Tagged jurisprudence, law, Teaching Moment, theory moves
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Entry Framing (Theory Moves)
Entry Framing: [en-tree frey-ming] Noun Phrase The initial establishment in a text of a perspective, an orientation, a frame from or against which the text proceeds. Examples: An entry framing can establish a voice (“I am a spiteful man. My liver is bad…”) … Continue reading
Posted in Random Jurisprudence, Theory Moves
Tagged aesthetics, jurisprudence, philosophy, Teaching Moment
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The Monty Python Example No. 3 (Analytical Philosophy in Law)
Too much of it arguably reads like this: In The Concept of Law, H.L.A. Hart once said something. This brilliant insight (BI) effectively corrected some fundamentally wrongheaded ways of thinking. Yet upon closer examination, BI encompasses a number of different ideas … Continue reading
Posted in Experimental, Random Jurisprudence, The BAT Cave
Tagged absurd, jurisprudence, legal academia, philosophy
1 Comment
Waiting
I have been waiting. In an airport. For my flight. Before that I was waiting in line. For security. For passport control. For baggage drop-off. I have been waiting all morning. In line. My passport and my boarding pass … Continue reading
The American Law School (Tentative Notes for Stages of Evolution)
Pedagogy Stage 1: Socratic Stage 2: Soft Socratic Stage 3: Lecture/Student-oriented Learning Stage 4: Consumer Preference Advancement Societies: Stage 1: Old Boys Club/Old School Tie Stage 2: Political/Intellectual Interest … Continue reading
The Law Review Rejection
Yesterday, I received an email from a top fifteen law review: Dear Professor Schlag, We have carefully considered your article, [Title] Unfortunately, we cannot accept it for publication in the [Name] Law Review. We expect this year to receive well … Continue reading
Santorum on Religion
On Sunday, Santorum gave what the NYtimes called a full-throated defense of religion in politics. In particular, Santorum said that John F. Kennedy’s speech on separation of church of state made him want to “throw up.” I quote: “To say … Continue reading
Individuation (Theory Moves)
in·di·vid·u·a·tion noun \-ˌvi-jə-ˈwā-shən\ The determination of the proper or relevant individual unit for purposes of interpretation, analysis, calculation, etc. Individuation portends both integration into a stable identity and differentiation of that identity from its environment. Antonym: fusion, dedifferentiation Example: A text … Continue reading
Posted in Random Jurisprudence, Theory Moves
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The Monty Python Example No. 2 (With Special Reference to Constitutional Interpretation)
As suggested in a prior post, the British comedy troupe Monty Python is generally under-acknowledged for its jurisprudential insights. Nonetheless, these are occasionally quite sharp. Here, for instance, in the “The Argument Clinic:” we have a demonstration of a basic … Continue reading
Posted in Experimental, Politics, Random Jurisprudence
Tagged constitutional law, interpretation
2 Comments
Gingrich Rising
Some days you just know it’s going to be a really good day: The Sunday Times on the table. Espresso frothing in the kitchen. Sourdough pancakes on the griddle. And Newt Gingrich winning in South Carolina… Could things … Continue reading
Posted in Experimental, Nature/Culture, Politics
Tagged character, politics, presidential election
3 Comments
The Iraq War is Over
It’s over. And yet no one is talking about it much publicly. Perhaps it’s because it was never our war. We were supposed to go shopping. Remember? It was Bush’s war. And it was (like virtually all his lifetime … Continue reading
Got Knowledge?
In “The Meditations,” Descartes revealed his desire to make a “solid and lasting contribution to knowledge,” His problem, as he saw it, is that he had accumulated a large number of false opinions and thereon erected a flimsy structure. He … Continue reading
Posted in Experimental, Random Jurisprudence, The BAT Cave
2 Comments
Coase and “The Problem of Social Cost” (Again)
I don’t know if other academics experience this, but I find that, in scholarship, I am drawn to certain texts or problems over and over again for reasons that remain elusive. And so here I am again, writing yet … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Random Jurisprudence, The BAT Cave
Tagged academia, economics, jurisprudence
1 Comment
