Power, Inequality and the Bargain

Power, Inequality and the Bargain
Author: Daniel D. Barnhizer
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2007
Genre:
ISBN:

In the Spring of 2006, I was privileged to host and moderate symposium presentations by an extraordinarily talented group of scholars who gathered at Michigan State University College of Law to analyze and discuss the role and relevancy of the legal concept of bargaining power in twenty-first century contract law. Just as dramatic social, political, and economic changes at the turn of the twentieth century drove the development of legal conceptions of bargaining power disparities and introduced those conceptions as explicit elements of many contract doctrines, the turn of the twenty-first century may prove similarly transformative. This symposium issue includes contributions by W. David Slawson, Larry A. DiMatteo, Blake D. Morant, Rachel Arnow-Richman, Curtis Bridgeman, and James F. Hogg that explore the appropriate role of bargaining power as a legal concept in the now-mature information era, with each participant developing their own unique perspective on how and whether such issues impact the regulation of contract.

Concretising the Open Norm of Public Policy

Concretising the Open Norm of Public Policy
Author: Luanda Hawthorne
Publisher:
Total Pages: 20
Release: 2015
Genre:
ISBN:

Both classical contract law and the classical conception of the rule of law have as their point of departure that inequality between individuals is the result of natural differences and capabilities and that recognition of formal equality is the only possibility. In line with this premise the judiciary is expected to merely apply abstract legal norms, and it is not the function of a judge to refer to policy considerations or consider the relative justice of individuals' claims. The judiciary may not make law or become involved in policy issues. However, the South African Constitution is expressly value-based and demands that the judiciary take cognizance of substantive values.

Bargaining with the State

Bargaining with the State
Author: Richard A. Epstein
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 341
Release: 1995-01-09
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1400821096

Bargaining with the State examines the threats to liberty that arise through the power of government selectively to distribute benefits and favors to its citizens. For Richard Epstein, the preservation of individual liberty against government contractual power advances not only the short-term interest of the individual citizen but also the long-term overall social welfare.

Inequality and the Labor Market

Inequality and the Labor Market
Author: Sharon Block
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
Total Pages: 263
Release: 2021-04-06
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0815738811

Exploring a new agenda to improve outcomes for American workers As the United States continues to struggle with the impact of the devastating COVID-19 recession, policymakers have an opportunity to redress the competition problems in our labor markets. Making the right policy choices, however, requires a deep understanding of long-term, multidimensional problems. That will be solved only by looking to the failures and unrealized opportunities in anti-trust and labor law. For decades, competition in the U.S. labor market has declined, with the result that American workers have experienced slow wage growth and diminishing job quality. While sluggish productivity growth, rising globalization, and declining union representation are traditionally cited as factors for this historic imbalance in economic power, weak competition in the labor market is increasingly being recognized as a factor as well. This book by noted experts frames the legal and economic consequences of this imbalance and presents a series of urgently needed reforms of both labor and anti-trust laws to improve outcomes for American workers. These include higher wages, safer workplaces, increased ability to report labor violations, greater mobility, more opportunities for workers to build power, and overall better labor protections. Inequality in the Labor Market will interest anyone who cares about building a progressive economic agenda or who has a marked interest in labor policy. It also will appeal to anyone hoping to influence or anticipate the much-needed progressive agenda for the United States. The book's unusual scope provides prescriptions that, as Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz notes in the introduction, map a path for rebalancing power, not just in our economy but in our democracy.

Inequality of Bargaining Power Versus Market for Lemons

Inequality of Bargaining Power Versus Market for Lemons
Author: Michael Schillig
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2013
Genre:
ISBN:

Directive 93/13 on unfair terms in consumer contracts has often been described as one of the most important European instruments in the area of consumer contract law. Currently the Directive is being assessed as part of the Commission's Review of the Consumer Acquis. Despite a comparatively large amount of case law, the Court has refused to develop a substantive minimum standard of fairness and consumer protection. Given the widely held view that the underlying rationale of the Directive is to correct the 'inequality of bargaining power' between business and consumers, this can only be a disappointment. Alternatively, the Directive can be analyzed as an instrument to tackle a form of market failure in respect of contract terms similar to what Akerlof has described as a 'market for lemons'. This approach is better able to accommodate the regulatory framework provided by the Directive as well as the Court's case law. Consequently, the current paradigm of 'inequality of bargaining power' should be replaced by the 'market for lemons' approach. This will have implications for the future development of standard contract terms legislation at the European level.