Two recent failures of the United States intelligence system have led to the creation of high-level investigative commissions. The failure to prevent the terrorist attacks of 9/11 prompted the creation of the 9/11 Commission, and the mistaken belief that Saddam Hussein had retained weapons of...

Efficient legal rules are central to efficient resource allocation in a market economy. But the question whether the common law actually converges to efficiency in commercial areas has remained empirically untested. We create a data set of 461 state court appellate decisions involving the...

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Introduction -- Part I: An Analytic Narrative of the Crisis -- 1. The Calm before the Storm: 2001-2006 -- 2. To the Abyss: December 2007-September 2008 -- 3. The Spectre of the Great Depression: October 2008-March 2009 -- 4. Bottoming Out: Spring 2009-Autumn 2009 -- 5....