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Juan Vicente Sola reissues "Constitution and Economy," a pioneering book on legal economic analysis
🇦🇷 Argentina /Economy & Trade

Juan Vicente Sola reissues "Constitution and Economy," a pioneering book on legal economic analysis

From La Nación · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

In-depth Sources not specified Context piece
  • Juan Vicente Sola's book "Constitución y Economía" (Constitution and Economy) has been reissued 25 years after its initial publication.
  • The book pioneered the economic analysis of law in Argentina, a field now widely accepted in legal discourse.
  • Sola advocates for analyzing the real-world consequences of legal decisions over historical legislative intent, criticizing corporatism.

Juan Vicente Sola's seminal work, "Constitución y Economía" (Constitution and Economy), has been reissued a quarter-century after its first appearance, marking a significant moment for the economic analysis of law in Argentina.

Understanding the Constitution as an economic instrument, in addition to an institutional one, opens a new legal dialogue that would benefit people's lives if judges assimilated the consequences of their rulings.

— Juan Vicente SolaJuan Vicente Sola explaining the significance of economic analysis in law.

Sola, speaking after the presentation of the second edition, highlighted how the book's initial publication was met with resistance, particularly at the University of Buenos Aires' law faculty, where the concept was dismissed as "ideological smuggling." Today, however, the economic analysis of law is a widely accepted approach, demonstrating the evolution of legal thought.

The new edition, published by Abeledo Perrot and Thomson Reuters, was presented by the Master's in Law and Economics program, which Sola directs. He reflected on the "solitary" nature of his initial efforts, contrasting it with the current landscape where jurisprudence is frequently shaped by economic analysis.

Today we accept things that we previously ignored.

— Juan Vicente SolaJuan Vicente Sola on the current acceptance of economic analysis in law compared to 25 years ago.

Sola defines economic analysis as taking consequences seriously, advocating for an examination of a text's effects rather than dwelling on the "intention of the legislator" from centuries past. He drew parallels to historical figures like Juan Bautista Alberdi and Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, pioneers of constitutionalism and judicial review in Argentina.

Economic analysis is taking the consequences seriously.

— Juan Vicente SolaJuan Vicente Sola defining the core principle of economic analysis in law.

Drawing inspiration from economist Oliver Williamson, Sola described the Constitution as an "incomplete long-term contract" governed by a dialogic judicial review. He also paid tribute to the late economist Edmund Phelps, with whom he collaborated, emphasizing Phelps's insights on the detrimental effects of inflation and the importance of deregulation for fostering innovation. Sola concluded by criticizing corporatism as "the metaphysics of decadence," a system of individual permits that stifles progress and breeds corruption, urging a confrontation with national reality through a clear-eyed perspective.

the metaphysics of decadence

— Juan Vicente SolaJuan Vicente Sola's description of corporatism.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by La Nación in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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