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"Introduction" [2019] ELECD 2878; in Goldberg, P. Victor (ed), "Rethinking the Law of Contract Damages" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) xiv

Book Title: Rethinking the Law of Contract Damages

Editor(s): Goldberg, P. Victor

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section Title: Introduction

Number of pages: 3

Extract:

Introduction
This is my second volume in the Rethinking Law series. While about half of
the first volume was devoted to damage remedies, this one is entirely focused
on doctrine regarding damages in the US and UK. Half the chapters concern
American law and half English. I must acknowledge that I am an economist,
not a lawyer, although I have some experience with American doctrine
having taught American contract law for two decades. I come to English law,
however, as an outsider.
As I noted in the previous volume, when I began teaching I started with the
presumption that contract doctrine was efficient. However, I have come to
believe that the doctrine in many instances is not, and is something that good
transactional lawyers must overcome. The use of "Rethinking" in the book's
title indicates my skepticism about doctrine in both countries. Much of the
analysis in this book will therefore be critical of the courts and the treatise
writers. I suspect that in some instances I will be wrong; I am, after all, taking
on some very smart folks. I do hope that by being provocative I will encourage
others to rethink these doctrines and that, in at least some instances, my view
will prevail.
This is not a book of comparative law, in the usual sense. Rather, I have
taken the same theoretical framework to the law in the two countries. I begin
with the presumption, common to both, that parties are largely free to design
their ...