That is the latest salvo from Commissioner Rosch in discussing Judge Easterbrook’s opinion in Jones v. Harris. I cant decide whether this strikes me as more offensive to the Chicago School of antitrust economics or to Judge Easterbrook. Probably the latter.
UPDATE: Another line from the speech: “On Tuesday March 30th, in a 9-1 decision authored by Justice Alito, the Court turned its back on Judge Easterbrook’s Seventh Circuit “pure Chicago School” decision.” It does make you wonder exactly they covered in Econ 101 at Harvard back in the day.
UPDATE 2: As a commenter below points out, the link to the speech as understandably been updated to correct this error.
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@ Professor Josh Wright & Scott,
In fact, pervasiveness of the ideas that Chicago pioneered is now such that, it is misnomer to call it the Chicago School as Rosch terms it.
Posner himself had noted this in one of his public comments, and I vaguely recollect, this had led you Professor Wright, to blog about it on TOTM. (I think this was because some journos had mis-interpreted Posner’s comments about there being no Chicago School as such, to repudiation of “Chicago-worldview” on his part; all he meant, what was earlier Chicago School is now so much a part of mainstream, that it is incorrect to refer to a “Chicago School” per se). To borrow from Friedman with a twist, “We are all Chicagoians now”.
In any case, that reference to “Chicago School” merely underlines that Rosch ought to read more. One speaks of the Austrian School for example, because Rothbard and Co. were heterodox.
Thanks Scott. On the merits I certainly agree that both the assertion that Easterbrook’s decision was “pure Chicago School” as Commissioner Rosch defines it, and the claim that the Supreme Court’s decision is somehow a repudiation of the Chicago School are at best, and applying the most charitable interpretation possible, wishful thinking.
Given Posner’s sharp dissent in Harris, I’m not so sure the Supreme Court’s reversal of Easterbrook’s decision amounts to a complete repudiation of the Chicago School…
Oh, I don’t doubt that the earlier version contained the error.
Lance: FYI, it now reads 9-0 where it read 9-1 at least as far as the time of the posting and at 10:30 am when a TOTM reader brought it to my attention. In any event, I’m sure Google will not lose the cached version if you are interested enough in following up.
I checked the PDF file you posted and the “9-1” error is nowhere to be found.
Yeah, Dont think that off the cuff comment was really necessary on Rosch’s part; but honestly, what an anti-climax to the Jones v. Harris litigation at SC: A one-line summing up of seventh circuit’s exertions: “Not for you to decide,its for the Congress duh”. So much for the Posnerian. /LoL…
Aha, and the quantum field theory is essentially what you learned in your Science class back in the seventh grade. Or maybe it was in Rocks for Jocks or something.