The 5th PE-DPS: Behrang Kianzad on Law and Economics in times of Crisis

In this 5th session of the series, Behrang Kianzad (University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Laq) will present some of his work and will invite us for a critical discussion on law and economics in times of crisis. Come join us in this challenge!

Title:** "Are We all Kantian? Law and Economics in times of Crisis" **

Abstract”

My research concerns the matter of excessive pricing as an anti-competitive practice, where I challenge the "mainstream" and "conventional wisdom" of Chicagoan-Borkian-Posnerian Economic Analysis of Law, which posits "efficiency" and "wealth maximisation" as the sole goal to be pursued by Antitrust Law. I demonstrate that both legal history, legislative intent as well as economic wisdom invariably points to fairness being the central goal to be pursued by Antitrust law, especially in case of essential goods such as pharmaceuticals, during pandemic times but also beyond.

Already Adam Smith noted that "justice is what holds the edificie together", and Adam Smith was not a utilitarian, as opposed to Bentham, and thus we need to recapture and return to the soul of Antitrust law, more importantly so in regards to "unfair pricing", as fairness in pricing matters as seen from neuro-economic as well as behavioural economic research, and thus fairness cannot be ignored by deference to "efficiency", as a matter of law and economics.