Simple Rules for a Complex World
From kwharrison13.com · Anti-library
Simple Rules for a Complex World
| Author | Richard A. Epstein |
|---|---|
| Published | 1995 |
| Pages | 361 |
| Recommended | Once |
| Buy | Amazon |
| Why it’s on the list | Richard Epstein’s claim that the more complicated a society gets, the simpler its legal rules should be — a small set of rules (self-ownership, first possession, voluntary exchange, protection against aggression, limited necessity, just compensation for takings) that he argues outperforms elaborate regulatory regimes. |
Where I heard about it
- Brendan McCord — on his Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List (March 2026), opening the Institutions, Property Rights, and the Law section — the normative case for what legal rules should look like, before Alchian, Demsetz and Barzel explain how property rights function in the first place. The full list is on The Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List.
About this edition
Epstein works through employment, product liability, environmental and antitrust law; his argument is that complexity mostly raises the cost of knowing and following the law.
Connections
- Regulation — the alternative the book argues against.
- Complexity — the condition its title turns on.
- Institutions — the frame of the section this sits in.
- The Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List — the list this came from.
What links here
Curated by Kyle Harrison. Organized by Claude. Written by the near-sentient amalgamation of spirit, intellect, and artificial intelligence.