Books by Richard A. Posner

3. Richard A. Posner, The Federal Judiciary: Strengths and Weaknesses .  This is a grumpy book , but I don’t mean that in a grumpy kind of way, as I like many grumpy books: “The dominant theme of this book has been judicial standpattism — more precisely, the stubborn refusal of the judiciary to adapt to modernity.”  By the end, Posner gives the federal judiciary a grade between B and B+, I was surprised it was so high.

That is the new forthcoming Richard Posner book and the subtitle is The Academy and the Judiciary .  Virtually everything by Posner is worth reading, and this comparison of the worlds of the professor and the judge is no exception.

1. Richard A. Posner, Reflections on Judging .  I’m not seeing this book receive enough attention.  It is written in a somewhat fragmented manner, but it is an important and stimulating look at how growing social and economic complexity and the increased specialization of knowledge make the current organization of judgeships increasingly problematic.  Furthermore the opening “legal autobiography” offered by Posner is fascinating and it could be turned into a longer book of its own.

2. Richard A. Posner, The Crisis of Capitalist Democracy .  Due out in April, this book is 400 pp.  The press release notes it "presents what Judge Posner has learned about the econom since writing [his last book]…[and he] thinks we're in for a financial aftershock because of the amount of money the government has poured into the economy to save it."

3. Richard A. Posner, A Failure of Capitalism: The Crisis of '08 and the Descent into Depression .

I remain a fan of Richard Posner’s book on old age , one of his best.  I ask Bryan: would he still take the advice that his 12-year-old self might have taped to a door?  Neurological changes aside, the elderly simply have less incentive to be deferential and to court their younger colleagues; Aristotle knew this too.

3. How Judges Think ,  by Richard A. Posner.  Every sentence in this book is substance, to a remarkable degree.  It’s hard to find a central thread to the argument, but I blame that on the topic rather than on any failing of the author.  After all, judges think in some pretty complicated ways and Posner goes out of his way to minimize the role of conscious theory in judicial behavior.  Content aside (which reflects all of Posner’s usual erudition), anyone interested in non-fiction should take a ...