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UNCOMMON SENSE

The University Of Chicago Press

Contents

Introduction to the Becker-Posner Blog.........................................11 The Sexual Revolution........................................................112 Gay Marriage.................................................................173 Polygamy.....................................................................254 Sex Selection................................................................315 Immigration Reform...........................................................376 Putin's Population Plan......................................................43Afterthoughts to Part I........................................................497 Kelo and Eminent Domain......................................................538 Pharmaceutical Patents.......................................................599 Grokster, File Sharing, and Contributory Infringement........................6510 Orphan Drugs, Intellectual Property, and Social Welfare.....................7311 Organ Sales.................................................................7912 Traffic Congestion..........................................................8513 Privatizing Highways........................................................91Afterthoughts to Part II.......................................................9714 Plagiarism..................................................................10315 Tenure......................................................................10916 For-Profit Colleges.........................................................11717 Ranking Higher Education....................................................123Afterthoughts to Part III......................................................12918 Fat Tax.....................................................................13319 Trans Fats Ban..............................................................13920 Libertarian Paternalism.....................................................14721 Chicago and Big Boxes.......................................................153Afterthoughts to Part IV.......................................................15922 Judicial Term Limits........................................................16523 Economics of the Revolving Door.............................................17124 CEO Compensation............................................................17725 Income Inequality...........................................................18526 Corporate Social Responsibility.............................................191Afterthoughts to Part V........................................................19727 Tsunami.....................................................................20328 Major Disasters.............................................................21129 Federalism, Economics, and Katrina..........................................21930 Post- Catastrophe Price Gouging.............................................22531 Global Warming and Discount Rates...........................................23132 Efficient Water Conservation................................................239Afterthoughts to Part VI.......................................................24533 Capital Punishment..........................................................25134 Doping Athletes.............................................................26335 Drunk Driving...............................................................26936 Internet Gambling...........................................................27537 Preventive War..............................................................28138 Ethnic Profiling............................................................28539 Privatizing Security........................................................29140 Antiterrorism Allocations...................................................29741 Collective Punishment.......................................................303Afterthoughts to Part VII......................................................30942 Economic and Political Freedom..............................................31543 Size of Countries...........................................................32144 Hamas, Palestine, and Democracy.............................................32745 Google in China.............................................................33346 Economics of National Culture...............................................33947 Microfinance and Development................................................34748 World Inequality............................................................35349 Foreign Aid.................................................................359Afterthoughts to Part VIII.....................................................365Index..........................................................................367

Chapter One

THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION—POSNER

The death of Pope John Paul II on April 2, 2005, is a reminder of the profound changes in sexual mores over the past half century in the United States and many other countries, of the pope's strong defense of conventional Roman Catholic sexual morality (including opposition to abortion, contraception, married priests, and all nonmarital sexual activity, including homosexual sex and even masturbation), and of the growing gulf between that morality and the actual sexual behavior of Roman Catholics in the United States (which is, on average, similar to that of other segments of the community), including the recent sex scandals involving the priesthood.

Let us consider first why sexual morality has changed so much over the past half century. If one takes an economic approach to the question, then since the benefits of sex in the sense of the pleasure or relief of tension that it yields have deep biological roots, it is probably to the cost side that we should look for an answer. The costs of engaging in sexual activity have fallen dramatically over the last half century (AIDS notwithstanding), for many reasons. One was the discovery that penicillin is a safe, certain, and inexpensive cure for syphilis. Another was improvements in contraceptive technology that have greatly reduced the likelihood of an unwanted birth (with minimal interference with sexual pleasure). It is true that the number of unwanted births has risen, but this is because other factors influence that number besides contraceptive technology. And to the extent that improved contraceptive technology induces more sexual activity by making sex safer, the number of unwanted births will not fall by the full percentage reduction in the probability of such a birth; the reduced probability per sexual act is somewhat offset by an increase in the number of acts. Legalizing abortion has further reduced the risk of an unwanted birth, although legalization can be viewed as a response to, rather than a cause of, a change in sexual mores or more plausibly as both.

Of fundamental importance is the changing role of women in society. The rise of the service economy, with its abundance of physically light jobs, together with the advent of highly efficient household labor-saving devices, has greatly increased women's job opportunities outside the home. That increase has in turn increased women's financial independence and thus reduced the gains...