Table of Contents

1. Introduction; 2. A general framework; A basic introduction to semiotics; A brief overview of the general argument; 3. Law and market economy: further clarification; Market as community; Market as a process of semiotic signification; 4. Wealth as a process of discovery (wealth, discovery, and imaginative choice); Coase's theorem; Public choice; 5. Social organization and the discovery process; The relationship between social organization and proactive wealth formation; An ethic of social responsibility for law and market economy; Outlining an ethic of social responsibility (humility, diversity, reciprocity); The ethic of social responsibility and wealth: some supportive evidence; 6. Implications of law and market economy; Efficiency does not maximize wealth; An extensive distribution promotes wealth; Rhetorical strategies have consequence; 7. Conclusions.

Promotional Information

Law, market theory and semiotics together provide a challenging new perspective on economic analysis of law.

Reviews

'Malloy develops a semiotic interpretation of work in law and economics that links exchange and creativity to ethical values. The result is a powerful new perspective on law and markets that brings to mind work from Hayek to Hurst. This book is an exceptionally important contribution to contemporary scholarship on the nature of Law.' John Brigham, Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst Member of the Board of Trustees of The Law and Society Association 'In bringing the language and concerns of ethics, moral theory, and social responsibility back into the discipline of market theory and law, this book is timely and significant, and should be read by anyone who cares about more just and inclusive alternatives to present forms of social organization.' Sharon Hom, Professor of Law, City University of New York 'Providing the reader with a rich menu of humanistic values, economic analysis, and interpretation theory, this work will enliven debate and open new avenues of inquiry in an academic field on the verge of becoming arid by its current confining focus.' Denis Brion, Professor of Law, Washington and Lee University '... it is clear that [Malloy's] concept of Law and Market Economy is rich with potential. As he develops his theory, he has the opportunity to work out a template for action in the processes of the law that can lead to a welfare-maximising society that would be a compelling alternative to the failed Welfare State of the immediate past, the Efficient State, instrumental to the economic elite, of Chicago School Law and Economics, and the Night-Watchman State, the hyper-competitive milieu of atomistic individuals of Libertarian Law and Economics.' International Journal for the Semiotics of Law