The Right to Earn A Living

May 10, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Timothy Sandefur

My new book, The Right to Earn A Living: Economic Freedom And The Law, is now available for immediate purchase at the Cato Institute’s website. The official release date is September, so if you order it from Amazon.com or B&N, it’ll be a while before you can get it.

Also, PLF Liberty Blog readers get a special discount. When you check out, type "Sandefur" in to the "Discount Code" box, and you get $8 off.

This book is much more in-depth than my previous book. It starts out with the history of economic liberty from 17th century England to the rise of the Progressive era, with focuses on cases like the Slaughterhouse Cases, Lochner v. New York, and others. Then I discuss the unfairness of the rational basis test that courts apply to cases involving economic freedom, and go on to address current controversies involving freedom of contract, including the abuse of occupational licensing, restrictions on commercial speech, regulations that prohibit property owners from developing their land, the abuse of tort law and civil rights laws, and so forth. It’s written to be accessible to the layman, but includes thorough citations to help lawyers who might be litigating cases in defense of economic liberty.