“What Does the Incoherence of the Efficiency Concept Mean for Law?” By Neil Buchanan

This term, the Cambridge Tax Discussion Group will be going digital due to University closures. We have an exciting talk by professor Neil Buchanan which will take place Thursday May 28th at 12:00 EDT (5pm BST).

To attend, please e-mail May (hmh46@cam.ac.uk) or Guy (gevm2@cam.ac.uk) to obtain the link to our discussion group for tomorrow or to be added to our weekly mailing list. All are welcome!

Abstract

Despite its ubiquity in economics and legal theory, the notion of economic efficiency is incoherent and thus does not provide an objective guide to policy or analysis. I am in the early stages of planning a book project in which I will write the lead chapter explaining why the efficiency concept is misunderstood and thus misused, and in the remaining chapters other scholars will explain how their fields of law should change once we stop treating efficiency as a meaningful concept. In this talk, I will explain in brief why efficiency has no fixed meaning and then explore with all of you what the other chapters of my planned book might cover (and who might write those chapters). Interested participants who want to read something in advance can focus on Parts II and V of this forthcoming article.

Professor Neil H. Buchanan is the James J. Freeland Eminent Scholar Chair in Taxation and UF Law’s Director of Global Scholarly Initiatives. He frequently lectures and serves as a visiting scholar at universities around the world, most recently at Cambridge University and the University of Vienna, among others. He is nationally and internationally known for his groundbreaking work on intergenerational justice, retirement security, constitutional issues in government budgeting, and a fundamental critique of orthodox economic theory. Professor Buchanan graduated from Vassar College and received his J.D. from the University of Michigan, A.M. and Ph.D. degrees in Economics from Harvard University, and a Ph.D. in Laws from Monash University in Australia. He clerked on the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. Professor Buchanan teaches both J.D. and LL.M. students at UF Levin College of Law.

For further information, please go to:https://www.law.ufl.edu/faculty/neil-buchanan