Finance & economics | Prophets of maximisation

How Chicago school economists reshaped American justice

The 50th anniversary of a groundbreaking work

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Justice Clarence Thomas.
Image: Getty Images

In recent years the antitrust division of America’s Department of Justice has gone on a crusade against corporate mergers, filing a record number of complaints in an attempt to stop the biggest businesses from getting even bigger. With few exceptions, these efforts have been thwarted by the courts. That it is so hard to get a judge to intervene in business reflects the work of an institution known more for its free-market influence on economics than the law: the University of Chicago.

This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Prophets of maximisation ”

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