Holding My new Book

I received my editor's copies of Property in Land and Other Resources (Lincoln Institute 2011) today. It looks and feels great. Lin and I are very grateful to all the contributors and the editorial assistants at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.

Did Van Gogh Commit Suicide?

Until now, most of the world simply presumed that he did, but that presumption is being questioned in a new book alleging that he was accidentally shot and killed either by the teenage brother of one of his friends, who enjoyed tormenting the mentally ill artist, or by a couple of local kids who were playing with a malfunctioning pistol. The Pulitzer Prize-winning duo of Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith make this claim in their new book, Van Gogh: The Life (Random House 2011). Perhaps they should have called it Van Gogh: The Death for all the attention being paid to the issue of his demise, as if it has any bearing on the artist's life, his art, or his reputation. Jonathan Jones, at his On Art Blog for The Guardian.com (here) raises questions about the new claims and argues that, ultimately, it just doesn't matter whether Van Gogh offed himself. Even if he didn't kill himself, he wanted to, and for Jones that is what counts. I'm not so sure. I mean, just because a guy cuts off his own ear, why should that lead anyone to believe he'd have suicidal tendencies. This brave new book by Naifeh and White Smith casts grave doubt on the entire "Van Gogh Suicide Industry," which would have us believe that the man was a great artist because he committed suicide. The only thing that is clear now is that, if Van Gogh did not kill himself, he can no longer be considered a great artist.

Principles of Law and Economics, 2d Edition (forthcoming summer 2011)

Peter Grossman and I have just completed the final revisions of chapters for the second edition of our Principles of Law and Economics textbook, which should be published in plenty of time for the Fall 2011 semester by Kluwer/Aspen. We did not change the overall structure or organization of the book, but worked in several new cases (while weeding out some old ones), added more game theory applications throughout, and slightly increased the coverage of intellectual property issues. The Table of Contents remains the same:

1. Economic Concepts and Institutions
2. An Introduction to the American Legal System
3. Putting Law and Economics Together: Frameworks, History, and Perspectives
4. "The Problem of Social Cost" and Modern Law and Economics
5. Property I: Acquisition
6. Property II: Protection
7. Property III: Limits
8. Contracts I: Formation and Enforcement
9. Contracts II: Remedies
10. Torts I: Negligence
11. Torts II: Strict Liability
12. Torts III: Reform
13. Crime and Punishment
14. Antitrust and Regulated Industries
15. Environmental Protection

We are very pleased with the way the book has worked for us in our classes, and even more pleased with the great support from Kluwer/Aspen, which will be marketing the book for both undergraduate and law school use. 

Illuminating Explanations On Why China and India Entrepreneurs Matter

"Billions of Entrepreneurs: How China and India Are Reshaping Their Futures -- and Yours" by Tarun Khanna

Oh, in case you missed this: "China Passes Japan to Become No. 2 Economy"