Stephen P. Paschall – författare

Law and economics are interdependent. Using a historical case analysis approach, this book demonstrates how the legal process relates to and is affected by economic circumstances. Glen Atkinson and Stephen P. Paschall examine this co-evolution in the context of the economic development that occurred in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as well as the impact of the law on that development. Specifically, the authors explore the development of a national market, the transformation of the corporation, and the conflict between state and federal control over businesses. Their focus on dynamic, integrated systems presents an alternative to mainstream law and economics.The authors apply John R. Commons's approach to three main law and economics issues: the changing relationship between corporations and the State, the application of the Commerce Clause and the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to state and federal regulation of business, and the relationship of antitrust law to industrialization. They provide a valuable linking of law with changing economic circumstances, such as antitrust policy changes and the development of the corporate form. This analytical approach to the practice of law and economics will be of interest to researchers, students, and faculty in law and economics, economic history, constitutional law, economic regulation, public policy, and the sociology of law. Business students and researchers will also find value in this book's presentation of court decisions and exploration of economic development.

This insightful book traces the evolution of corporate power in the United States, from social control over corporate power under early state laws to the modern liberation of the corporation serving primarily private purposes. It illustrates how the transition of attitudes towards corporations and dynamic changes in public policy have ushered in an age of financial fragility, income inequality and macroeconomic instability.The book employs an evolutionary methodology to consider the role of the corporation in the US economy, and how that role as a tool for public purposes, defined by special charters, changed with the widening of markets and increasing industrial capacity for mass production. Evaluating the stages of capitalist development, chapters demonstrate how the co-evolution of law, economics and finance altered economic organization, leading to the evolution of core economic concepts such as capital, income and resources. The book examines the transition of corporate purpose towards generating wealth and enhancing profits in the early twentieth century and analyzes recent trends through illuminating case studies in financialization. It concludes with crucial insights into the future of the corporation, offering potential pathways for economists to intervene and address the systemic problems that are endemic to the modern financial era.A rousing and provocative call to arms for modern economists, this book is key reading for scholars and researchers of economics, particularly those focusing on the evolution of economic and business institutions and its impact on the social fabric of the US. Practitioners and policymakers will also benefit from its empirical perspectives on financialization.