Weasel Numbers, Welfare Economics, and Social Welfare - A New Article from Prof. Dibadj

Professor Reza Dibadj's new article, "Weasel Numbers," has just appeared in the latest issue of Cardozo Law Review.

Professor Dibadj opens with a brief overview of "weasel words" in law—words like "reasonable" or "due care" which do not admit of any precise definition. He continues:

Perhaps in an attempt to cabin the unnerving open-endedness of weasel words, however, interdisciplinary scholarship occupies increasing prominence in legal academics. In particular, law and economics, the most influential of these interdisciplinary movements, "seeks to replace the legal process virtues of judgment and statesmanship with the formal algebra of neoclassical economics." On the one hand, its illustrious proponents, notably Richard Posner, believe that law should be guided by economics, which they optimistically paint as the "science of rational choice." And while there have been several brilliant critiques of the law and economics paradigm, the vast majority of these arguments have been from outside the economics tradition.

I take a different tack and argue against conventional interpretations of law and economics from within the literature of welfare economics itself. In sum, I make two arguments. The first is that traditional law and economics deeply misunderstands modern advances in welfare economics. The second is that these advances point to the need for a robust administrative state—a conclusion directly at odds with mainstream law and economics, which too often revels in denigrating public bureaucracy.

I introduce into the literature the notion of "weasel numbers" as a new metaphor to debunk the myth that mathematical economics can provide certainty. Just like lawyers must deal with weasel words, welfare economists must deal with weasel numbers. While both are useful, neither will provide a first-best solution. To believe that welfare economics can provide precise answers to questions of public policy is a pipe dream.…

Reza R. Dibadj, "Weasel Words," 27 Cardozo Law Review 1345 (2006) is available in full (as a PDF file) at the Cardozo Law Review web site.

The article is available in print in most, if not all, U.S. academic law libraries — including the Zief Library (where it's currently at the Circulation & Reserve Desk). In addition, Lexis subscribers can retrieve the article by using "Get a Document" and entering the citation: 27 Cardozo L. Rev. 1325. Westlaw subscribers can use "Find by citation" or "Find & Print" and enter: 27 CDZLR 1325.

[Other publications by Professor Reza Dibadj are listed on the Zief Library's Faculty Publications page. The USF Law School web site has this profile of Professor Dibadj.]