“And thus there seems a reason in all things, even in law.”
Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chapter 90
“For small erections may be finished by their first architects; grand ones, true ones, ever leave the copestone to posterity . . . . [t]his whole book is but a draught—nay, but… Read More »
I.
The Conceptual Counteroffensive Against Private Property
This basic theory of property rights identifies three central components of private ownership: the rights to possess, use, and dispose of property. Taken together, these elements facilitate the creation of complex voluntary arrangements to coordinate the activities of multiple actors. The operational… Read More »
By allowing the condemnation of private homes to make way for a “more attractive” private development, the U.S. Supreme Court in Kelo v. City of New London roused the fury of the libertarian legal academy and much of the public. In Kelo, the Court held that a plan for private economic… Read More »
Abraham Bell’s instructive article begins with his conscious decision to distance himself from the “popular firestorm” that greeted the Supreme Court’s 2005 decision in Kelo v New London. In so doing, however, he reveals a tin ear to the public protests, which contain much good sense. As one author who has… Read More »
The popular firestorm surrounding the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Kelo v City of New London focused on public incomprehension that the government may simply take property from one private property owner and transfer it to another private owner.
The legal community found the ruling less than surprising—it is well known… Read More »