Law Commons^™

Can't Touch This! Private Property, Takings, And The Merit Goods Argument, Goutam U. Jois

Goutam U Jois

Over the past several decades, economic theory has gained increasing influence in legal thinking, political theory, and public policy. This article argues that the popular characterization of economics as “value-neutral” obscures the fact that there are fundamental value judgments in any framework influenced by economics. Acknowledging this fact will shift the terms of the debate: instead of a “neutral” policy and one that “imposes values,” we see that both policies in fact entail value imposition to some extent. The public discourse is thus rendered more intellectually honest. The article progresses in three parts. First, I describe the concept of “merit …