New Article: Kevin E. Davis and Mariana Pargendler, Contract Law and Inequality, 107 Iowa L. Rev. 1485, (2022). Excerpt of Introduction below:
Economic inequality is one of the most pressing problems facing modern societies, but it remains an open question whether it is one that contract law has any role to play in addressing. The orthodox answer to this question is no—contract law should pursue autonomy, efficiency, or justice in exchange, but not distributive objectives. This orthodoxy is rooted in the idea that pursuit of distributive objectives through contract law is both illegitimate and ineffective, particularly when initiated by judges as opposed to legislators. Accordingly, distribution should be pursued principally through the fiscal system—taxes and public spending—rather than through courts’ rulings in contractual disputes. Critiques of the prevailing orthodoxy struggle with an inconvenient fact: Existing literature suggests that legal systems around the world have converged on contract law doctrines that are insensitive to distributive considerations, part of a broader trend that leaves very few differences of economic significance among contract laws. The absence of concrete experiences with alternatives to contract law orthodoxy casts doubt on the appeal and viability of heterodoxy.
Poverty Law 