In Their Own Words

Stephen J. Spurr, a professor of economics at Wayne State University in Detroit, has just completed a textbook on economic analysis of law, Economic Foundations of Law. His book, which is designed for undergraduates but may also be of interest to law students, provides an economic analysis of the law of property, contracts, torts, criminal law, corporation law, tax law, and of the litigation process. Publication of this book is timely because of the steadily increasing influence of economic analysis on the law--through its effect on legal scholarship and on judicial decisions. Today virtually any lawyer is likely to encounter applications of economics in his or her law practice. Of course, researchers at the University of Chicago have had an enormous impact on this field--probably more than those of any other university. Spurr wrote his book over a period of some seven years.