Law and Market Economy: Reinterpreting Legal & Economic Values | Essential Reading for Law Students, Economists & Policy Makers

Malloy's "Law and Market Economy: Reinterpreting the Values of Law and Economics," brings law and economic legal scholarship further into postmodernism. Rejecting the pragmatic empiricism characteristic of Posner and post-Chicago law and economic theorists, Malloy imports a moral and ethical approach based on the philosophical insights of semiotics. Referencing C.S. Peirce, Malloy sees the market and the law as processes of semiotic signification that function as interpretive frames of reference for determining meaning and value. This interpretive process offers a normative and ethical point of reference to guide market choices. By focusing on the social/market exchange process instead of the predicted outcome of transactions, law and market theory strives for a decentralized and inclusive process of exchange. Malloy's book is a recommended read for all uncomfortable with the static assumptions that currently define law and economic scholarship.