February 2023 MBR The Economic Studies Shelf

The Economic Studies Shelf

Courts, Regulators, and the Scrutiny of Economic Evidence
Despoina Mantzari
Oxford University Press
198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016-4314
www.oup.com/us
9780198851608, $90.00, HC, 272pp

https://www.amazon.com/Courts-Regulators-Scrutiny-Economic-Evidence/dp/019885160X

Synopsis: With the publication of "Courts, Regulators, and the Scrutiny of Economic Evidence", Professor Despoina Mantzari presents the first systematic examination of economic regulation and the crucial role of economic evidence in regulatory authorities and courts.

"Courts, Regulators, and the Scrutiny of Economic Evidence" presents the first systematic examination of economic regulation and the crucial role of economic evidence in regulatory authorities and courts.

"Courts, Regulators, and the Scrutiny of Economic Evidence" brings together strands of scholarship from law, economics, and political science to explore two key themes: the influence of economic evidence on the discretionary assessments of economic regulators, and the limits of judicial review of economic evidence, supplemented with comparative examination of both UK and US systems. In light of the challenges posed by economic evidence, Professor Mantzari argues the appropriate scope of judicial review in the era of regulatory economics, and what the optimal institutional response to the pervasiveness of economic evidence in regulation should be.

Building on comparative institutional analysis, "Courts, Regulators, and the Scrutiny of Economic Evidence" rejects single-factor explanations, such as the individual knowledge of judges, in favour of a richer set of macro and micro-level factors that shape the relationships between courts and regulators. Professor Mantzari argues that the 'recipe' for adjudicating economic evidence requires a balance in which a degree of epistemic diversity is introduced in courts, and deference is accorded to regulatory agencies on grounds of institutional competency.

"Courts, Regulators, and the Scrutiny of Economic Evidence" combines theoretical, doctrinal, comparative, and empirical analysis and it is written to be accessible to lawyers, economists, judges, regulators, policymakers, and political scientists. brings together strands of scholarship from law, economics, and political science to explore two key themes: the influence of economic evidence on the discretionary assessments of economic regulators, and the limits of judicial review of economic evidence, supplemented with comparative examination of both UK and US systems. In light of the challenges posed by economic evidence, Professor Mantzari argues the appropriate scope of judicial review in the era of regulatory economics, and what the optimal institutional response to the pervasiveness of economic evidence in regulation should be.

Critique: Informatively enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of Figures, Tables, Cases, Legislation, a ten page Bibliography, and a ten page Index, "Courts, Regulators, and the Scrutiny of Economic Evidence" is an especially well written, organized and presented study that is unreservedly recommended for professional, governmental, college, and university library Economics collections and supplemental curriculum studies syllabus. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "Courts, Regulators, and the Scrutiny of Economic Evidence" is also available to students, academia, economists, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject in a digital book format (Kindle, $67.49).

Editorial Note: Despoina Mantzari (https://cerre.eu/biographies/despoina-mantzari) is Associate Professor in Competition Law and Policy at University College London (UCL), Faculty of Laws. Prior to that she was a lecturer at the University of Reading and a postdoctoral research fellow at the Centre for Competition Policy at the University of East Anglia. She was also a visiting researcher at the UC Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law and a Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies in London. She holds a PhD and an LL.M from UCL and studied law at the National University of Athens. Her research cuts across competition law and public law and regulation and has been funded by the AHRC, the ESRC, and the BA/Leverhulme Trust.

Making Money Work for Us: How MMT Can Save America
L. Randall Wray
Polity
www.politybooks.com
c/o John Wiley and Sons (dist.)
www.wiley.com
9781509554256, $59.99, HC, 224pp

https://www.amazon.com/Making-Money-Work-Us-America/dp/1509554254

Synopsis: Is money precious and scarce, necessitating iron fiscal discipline? Must the government always balance the books or risk ruin? Or is money, in fact, a flexible tool that can be used to mobilize our collective resources to serve those who need them?

With the publication of "Making Money Work for Us: How MMT Can Save America", leading Modern Money Theory (MMT) advocate and economist Randy Wray explains that the only real constraints on public policy are physical resources, technological capacity and political will: but never money.

He shows how modern sovereign governments spend by key-stroking money to bank accounts. While taxes serve other important purposes, they do not (contrary to popular belief) fund spending. If we recognize this, and totally reframe how we think about money and debt, we can marshal our national wealth to make us all richer, eliminate unemployment and "look after our own". We can make money work for us and our country.

"Making Money Work for Us" shows how MMT can become a new American political and economic orthodoxy, replacing the dominant conservative framework forever. It is essential reading for all progressives.

Critique: Informatively enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of fifteen pages of Notes and a seven page Index, "Making Money Work for Us: How MMT Can Save America" is a timely, informative, thoughtful and thought-provoking contribution to our on-going national discussions on economic financing and government policy reforms. While highly recommended as an essential and core addition to community, college, and university library Contemporary Economics collections and supplemental curriculum Income Inequality studies lists, it should be noted for students, academia, economists, governmental policy makers, political activists, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Making Money Work for Us: How MMT Can Save America" is also available in a paperback edition (9781509554263, $19.95) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $16.00).

Editorial Note: L. Randall Wray (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Randall_Wray) is an expert on MMT, as well as Professor of Economics at Bard College and a Senior Scholar at the Levy Economics Institute.

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