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75 B.U. L. Rev. 1441 (1995)
Simple Rules and the Perils of Reductionist Legal Thought

handle is hein.journals/bulr75 and id is 1455 raw text is: BOOK REVIEW SIMPLE RULES AND THE PERILS OF REDUCTIONIST LEGAL THOUGHT SIMPLE RULES FOR A COMPLEX WORLD By Richard A. Epstein.* Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1995. Pp. xiv, 350. $35.00. Reviewed by Eric W Orts** Everything should be made as simple as possible, said Albert Ein- stein, but not simpler.'1 This aphorism captures both the major strength and the major weakness of Professor Richard A. Epstein's Simple Rules for a Complex World.2 The book shows how economic analysis can con- tribute to public decisionmaking, but Epstein does not heed Einstein's warning. His simple rules often oversimplify our society and the legal system that reflects it. Simple Rules for a Complex World is significant because of the light it throws on Professor Epstein's prolific and influential work.3 It is also an * James Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor, University of Chicago Law School. ** Nelson Peltz Term Assistant Professor of Legal Studies, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. For very helpful comments, I thank Tom Dunfee, Dan Farber, Susan Freiwald, Fred Schauer, Tony Sebok, Richard Shell, Alan Strudler, and Aidan Synnott. For research assistance, I thank Pandora Kazeppis. 1 The saying is quoted in William Safire, Stylish Books and Koobs, N.Y. TIMES, Aug. 20, 1995, § 6 (Magazine), at 18; see also THE NEW INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY OF QUOTATIONS 281 (Hugh Rawson & Margaret Miner eds., 1986). 2 RICHARD A. EPSTEIN, SIMPLE RULES FOR A COMPLEX WORLD (1995) [hereinaf- ter SIMPLE RULES]. 3 Professor Epstein refers in the book to the highlights of his impressive bibliogra- phy, including: RICHARD A. EPSTEIN, BARGAINING WITH THE STATE (1993); RICH- ARD A. EPSTEIN, FORBIDDEN GROUNDS: THE CASE AGAINST EMPLOYMENT DIS- CRIMINATION LAWS (1992); RICHARD A. EPSTEIN, TAKINGS: PRIVATE PROPERTY AND THE POWER OF EMINENT DOMAIN (1985); RICHARD A. EPSTEIN, MODERN PRODUCTS LIABILITY LAW (1980); Richard A. Epstein, On the Optimal Mix of Common and Private Property, 11 Soc. PHIL. & POL'Y 1 (1994); Richard A. Epstein, The Path to The T.J. Hooper: The Theory and History of Custom in the Law of Tort, 21 J. LEGAL STUD. 1 (1992); Richard A. Epstein, The Utilitarian Foundations of Natural Law, 12 1441

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