The LPE Project
@lpeproject.bsky.social
Legal scholars, students, & practitioners working to expose & transform law's role in the perpetuation of economic, racial, & gender inequality. & check out our Blog: @lpeblog.bsky.social
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Reposted by The LPE Project
Week in review: @madisoncondon.bsky.social on climate change and externalities-thinking, @markieviczlass.bsky.social on MAGA’s faux populism & college affordability, and @alvinvelazquez.bsky.social and @chrishampton.bsky.social on LPE and the Bible.
Plus, the Best of LPE from around the web 🧵👇
Plus, the Best of LPE from around the web 🧵👇
Weekly Roundup: Dec 5
Madison Condon on climate change and externalities-thinking, Colleen Carrol on MAGA's attempt to outflank democrats on college affordability, and Alvin Velazquez and Christopher Hampson on what LPE…
lpeproject.org
December 5, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Week in review: @madisoncondon.bsky.social on climate change and externalities-thinking, @markieviczlass.bsky.social on MAGA’s faux populism & college affordability, and @alvinvelazquez.bsky.social and @chrishampton.bsky.social on LPE and the Bible.
Plus, the Best of LPE from around the web 🧵👇
Plus, the Best of LPE from around the web 🧵👇
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Today, @alvinvelazquez.bsky.social and @chrishampsonlaw.bsky.social explore the intersection of Christian Legal Thought and LPE, and warn against leaving theological discourse to the theocrats.
What LPE and the Christian Bible Have in Common
In today’s polarized political discourse, it is easy to forget that the Bible’s economic values align better with LPE’s market critiques than with the neoliberal right’s twentieth-century synthesis.
lpeproject.org
December 4, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Today, @alvinvelazquez.bsky.social and @chrishampsonlaw.bsky.social explore the intersection of Christian Legal Thought and LPE, and warn against leaving theological discourse to the theocrats.
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By proposing a five-year tuition freeze, the Trump administration's compact dangerously repackages the issue of college affordability in a faux-populist rhetoric.
Check out this post by Colleen Carroll, VP of Legislative & Political Action at AAUP-Portland State University👇
@psuaaup.bsky.social
Check out this post by Colleen Carroll, VP of Legislative & Political Action at AAUP-Portland State University👇
@psuaaup.bsky.social
Today, Colleen Carroll discusses a little noticed aspect of Trump's Compact: the attempt to subsume and corrupt the issue of college affordability.
The Dark Doppelganger of Affordable Higher Education
In the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education, the Trump administration included a brilliant bit of faux-populism: a five-year tuition freeze. The proposal creates the illusion that the…
lpeproject.org
December 2, 2025 at 7:58 PM
By proposing a five-year tuition freeze, the Trump administration's compact dangerously repackages the issue of college affordability in a faux-populist rhetoric.
Check out this post by Colleen Carroll, VP of Legislative & Political Action at AAUP-Portland State University👇
@psuaaup.bsky.social
Check out this post by Colleen Carroll, VP of Legislative & Political Action at AAUP-Portland State University👇
@psuaaup.bsky.social
"Trump’s proposed solution, a five-year tuition freeze, represents a brilliant bit of faux-populism—one that will appeal to voters while also reassuring his wealthy backers and corporations that they have nothing to fear."
Today, Colleen Carroll discusses a little noticed aspect of Trump's Compact: the attempt to subsume and corrupt the issue of college affordability.
The Dark Doppelganger of Affordable Higher Education
In the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education, the Trump administration included a brilliant bit of faux-populism: a five-year tuition freeze. The proposal creates the illusion that the…
lpeproject.org
December 2, 2025 at 7:23 PM
"Trump’s proposed solution, a five-year tuition freeze, represents a brilliant bit of faux-populism—one that will appeal to voters while also reassuring his wealthy backers and corporations that they have nothing to fear."
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"Asserting democratic control over corporate investment decisions is key to an anti-capitalist climate agenda…Imagine if we had collectively decided to build wind turbines and flood gates instead of data centers. Imagine that we could." 👀
Today, @madisoncondon.bsky.social makes the case that we should stop thinking of climate change as an externality.
The latest in our series on @alybatt.bsky.social's *Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature.*
The latest in our series on @alybatt.bsky.social's *Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature.*
Is Climate Change an Externality?
Environmental harms are often cast as externalities, even by those seeking to emphasize their urgency. Yet the major modern environmental statutes, written before America'
lpeproject.org
December 2, 2025 at 4:32 PM
"Asserting democratic control over corporate investment decisions is key to an anti-capitalist climate agenda…Imagine if we had collectively decided to build wind turbines and flood gates instead of data centers. Imagine that we could." 👀
Reposted by The LPE Project
Today, Colleen Carroll discusses a little noticed aspect of Trump's Compact: the attempt to subsume and corrupt the issue of college affordability.
The Dark Doppelganger of Affordable Higher Education
In the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education, the Trump administration included a brilliant bit of faux-populism: a five-year tuition freeze. The proposal creates the illusion that the…
lpeproject.org
December 2, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Today, Colleen Carroll discusses a little noticed aspect of Trump's Compact: the attempt to subsume and corrupt the issue of college affordability.
Reposted by The LPE Project
Come for the discussion of Pigou and Coase, stay for the discussion of Hale and Holmes.
Today, @madisoncondon.bsky.social makes the case that we should stop thinking of climate change as an externality.
The latest in our series on @alybatt.bsky.social's *Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature.*
The latest in our series on @alybatt.bsky.social's *Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature.*
Is Climate Change an Externality?
Environmental harms are often cast as externalities, even by those seeking to emphasize their urgency. Yet the major modern environmental statutes, written before America'
lpeproject.org
December 2, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Come for the discussion of Pigou and Coase, stay for the discussion of Hale and Holmes.
Reposted by The LPE Project
If we rejected the idea that climate change is best thought of as an externality, how would it our approach to regulation:
![Text reading: in many ways, unlearning externalities-thinking is just rediscovering what we knew in 1970. The Congress that passed the Clean Air Act expressly rejected the use of economic analysis in designing air pollution regulation. The Act’s Senate Report explained that “the health of people is more important than the question of whether [the achievement of air standards] is technically feasible… therefore… existing sources of pollutants either should meet the standard of law or be closed down.” The Supreme Court concluded that the Clean Air Act was a “drastic remedy,” “expressly designed to force regulated sources to develop pollution control devices that might at the time appear to be economically or technologically infeasible.” What this statutory design recognizes is that corporations don’t just act in markets, they control them. They can bring entire technologies, entire new compounds, into being. Asking a regulator or judge to assess the costs and benefits of limiting pollution—or expecting an affected individual to bargain in this situation—makes no sense. Before the automobile industry invented the catalytic converter, the costs of reducing air pollution seemed astronomical, enough to bankrupt the entire industry. After they invented the catalytical converter, the costs were manageable. And they only invented it because they were faced with the threat of being shut down.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5m2cxxh65t5tkpn56cnyjr2b/bafkreia4htqp3owielcbb6y2mkw42axhjhnkurl3n7v25q5sdujuujgf6m@jpeg)
December 1, 2025 at 4:39 PM
If we rejected the idea that climate change is best thought of as an externality, how would it our approach to regulation:
Reposted by The LPE Project
Today, @madisoncondon.bsky.social makes the case that we should stop thinking of climate change as an externality.
The latest in our series on @alybatt.bsky.social's *Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature.*
The latest in our series on @alybatt.bsky.social's *Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature.*
Is Climate Change an Externality?
Environmental harms are often cast as externalities, even by those seeking to emphasize their urgency. Yet the major modern environmental statutes, written before America'
lpeproject.org
December 1, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Today, @madisoncondon.bsky.social makes the case that we should stop thinking of climate change as an externality.
The latest in our series on @alybatt.bsky.social's *Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature.*
The latest in our series on @alybatt.bsky.social's *Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature.*
Reposted by The LPE Project
Today, Mason Kortz explains how FOIA’s Exemption 4 has evolved into a powerful tool for corporate secrecy, allowing government agencies and private firms to thwart transparency through confidentiality pacts.
lpeproject.org/blog/public-...
lpeproject.org/blog/public-...
Public Money, Private Secrets: Rethinking FOIA in the Age of Public-Private Governance
As public-private partnerships become central to modern governance, FOIA’s Exemption 4 has evolved into a powerful tool for corporate secrecy. After Argus Leader, government agencies and private firms...
lpeproject.org
November 25, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Today, Mason Kortz explains how FOIA’s Exemption 4 has evolved into a powerful tool for corporate secrecy, allowing government agencies and private firms to thwart transparency through confidentiality pacts.
lpeproject.org/blog/public-...
lpeproject.org/blog/public-...
Reposted by The LPE Project
Today, Jed Britton-Purdy continues our symposium on @alybatt.bsky.social's *Free Gifts.*
To what extent, he asks, can a turn to politics make space for the ecological values that many of us want to take seriously?
To what extent, he asks, can a turn to politics make space for the ecological values that many of us want to take seriously?
What Can Politics Make of Nature?
Alyssa Battistoni’s Free Gifts argues that capitalism limits our freedom to decide how to value the nonhuman world. Politics, as the domain in which we choose the terms of our collective life…
lpeproject.org
November 24, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Today, Jed Britton-Purdy continues our symposium on @alybatt.bsky.social's *Free Gifts.*
To what extent, he asks, can a turn to politics make space for the ecological values that many of us want to take seriously?
To what extent, he asks, can a turn to politics make space for the ecological values that many of us want to take seriously?
Reposted by The LPE Project
"Climate change’s cause is truly social, and so the response to it must be as well. Struggling to avert climate catastrophe is one and the same with struggling to overcome capitalism...." lpeproject.org/blog/when-na...
When Nature is Worthless
Under capitalism, the social domination of nature occurs through and is mediated by the commodity form. Certain portions of non-human nature can be valued, but only when they are transformed into…
lpeproject.org
November 23, 2025 at 6:12 PM
"Climate change’s cause is truly social, and so the response to it must be as well. Struggling to avert climate catastrophe is one and the same with struggling to overcome capitalism...." lpeproject.org/blog/when-na...
Reposted by The LPE Project
The week in review: @alybatt.bsky.social on the free gifts of nature, @selfactingmule.bsky.social on value form theory and the accelerating climate crisis, and Reshard Kolabhai on what Africa might mean for thinking about LPE.
Plus, the best of LPE from around the web 🧵👇
Plus, the best of LPE from around the web 🧵👇
Weekly Roundup: Nov 21
Alyssa Battistoni on the free gifts of nature, Rob Hunter on value form theory and the accelerating climate crisis, and Reshard L. Kolabhai on what LPE can learn from the Global South. Plus…
lpeproject.org
November 21, 2025 at 7:25 PM
The week in review: @alybatt.bsky.social on the free gifts of nature, @selfactingmule.bsky.social on value form theory and the accelerating climate crisis, and Reshard Kolabhai on what Africa might mean for thinking about LPE.
Plus, the best of LPE from around the web 🧵👇
Plus, the best of LPE from around the web 🧵👇
Reposted by The LPE Project
Today, Reshard Kolabhai lays out some lessons for LPE from the Global South. A focus on Africa, he argues, could helpfully destabilize our narratives about capitalist periods, our assumptions about the links between law and capitalism, and our understanding of progressive development policy.
LPE Without Borders: Lessons from the Global South
Law and political economy scholarship, immersed in a particular history of Northern law and capitalism, has tended to focus on US law and policy, with occasional excursions into Europe. But in a world...
lpeproject.org
November 20, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Today, Reshard Kolabhai lays out some lessons for LPE from the Global South. A focus on Africa, he argues, could helpfully destabilize our narratives about capitalist periods, our assumptions about the links between law and capitalism, and our understanding of progressive development policy.
Reposted by The LPE Project
In a new post for the @lpeblog.bsky.social, @solomonctryls.bsky.social Deputy Director and Senior Research Fellow Elle Rothermich reflects on the potential limits of antitrust law as a tool to improve health care for terminally ill patients. lpeproject.org/blog/hospice...
Hospice Commodification and the Limits of Antitrust
As hospice care is increasingly dominated by private equity firms, an antitrust response, while necessary, has the potential to normalize the language of the market as the default mode for discussing…
lpeproject.org
November 19, 2025 at 7:33 PM
In a new post for the @lpeblog.bsky.social, @solomonctryls.bsky.social Deputy Director and Senior Research Fellow Elle Rothermich reflects on the potential limits of antitrust law as a tool to improve health care for terminally ill patients. lpeproject.org/blog/hospice...
Reposted by The LPE Project
Today, Rob Hunter (@selfactingmule.bsky.social) continues our symposium on @alybatt.bsky.social *Free Gifts,* explaining why capitalist subjects are incapable of valuing the ecological systems on our which existence depends, even as they collapse around us.
When Nature is Worthless
Under capitalism, the social domination of nature occurs through and is mediated by the commodity form. Certain portions of non-human nature can be valued, but only when they are transformed into…
lpeproject.org
November 18, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Today, Rob Hunter (@selfactingmule.bsky.social) continues our symposium on @alybatt.bsky.social *Free Gifts,* explaining why capitalist subjects are incapable of valuing the ecological systems on our which existence depends, even as they collapse around us.
Reposted by The LPE Project
I wrote for @lpeblog.bsky.social about @alybatt.bsky.social's new book—which, I argue, shows how the critique of political economy can allow us to clearly name the social cause of climate catastrophe: capital. lpeproject.org/blog/when-na...
When Nature is Worthless
Under capitalism, the social domination of nature occurs through and is mediated by the commodity form. Certain portions of non-human nature can be valued, but only when they are transformed into…
lpeproject.org
November 18, 2025 at 11:51 AM
I wrote for @lpeblog.bsky.social about @alybatt.bsky.social's new book—which, I argue, shows how the critique of political economy can allow us to clearly name the social cause of climate catastrophe: capital. lpeproject.org/blog/when-na...
Reposted by The LPE Project
Don't miss Alyssa Battistoni's post about her excellent new book!!
November 17, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Don't miss Alyssa Battistoni's post about her excellent new book!!
Reposted by The LPE Project
Today, @alybatt.bsky.social kicks off a symposium on her book, *Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature*
The idea of the free gift, she argues, can give us a deeper understanding of the environmental problems that plague capitalism. It can also help us better understand capitalism itself.
The idea of the free gift, she argues, can give us a deeper understanding of the environmental problems that plague capitalism. It can also help us better understand capitalism itself.
In the Shadow of Commodification
While capitalism is typically said to commodify everything, much of what makes up our world isn’t commodified at all. It instead appears as a free gift: a social form that describes the condition of…
lpeproject.org
November 17, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Today, @alybatt.bsky.social kicks off a symposium on her book, *Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature*
The idea of the free gift, she argues, can give us a deeper understanding of the environmental problems that plague capitalism. It can also help us better understand capitalism itself.
The idea of the free gift, she argues, can give us a deeper understanding of the environmental problems that plague capitalism. It can also help us better understand capitalism itself.
Reposted by The LPE Project
It’s a rainy morning in California, but our future is bright! ☀️
We are reveling in this incredible win for academic freedom and higher education.
www.latimes.com/california/s...
We are reveling in this incredible win for academic freedom and higher education.
www.latimes.com/california/s...
November 15, 2025 at 3:37 PM
It’s a rainy morning in California, but our future is bright! ☀️
We are reveling in this incredible win for academic freedom and higher education.
www.latimes.com/california/s...
We are reveling in this incredible win for academic freedom and higher education.
www.latimes.com/california/s...
Reposted by The LPE Project
The week in review: @vanessawilliamson.bsky.social on oligarchy and taxation, and Elle Rothermich on private equity and the commodification of hospice care.
Plus, the best of Law and Political Economy from around the web, including new events, books, essays, and articles 🧵👇
Plus, the best of Law and Political Economy from around the web, including new events, books, essays, and articles 🧵👇
Weekly Roundup: Nov 14
Vanessa Williamson on oligarchy and taxation, and Elle Rothermich on the commodification of hospice care. Plus, Kate Redburn on Skrmetti, LPE Night School on municipal power, Claire Kelloway on public...
lpeproject.org
November 14, 2025 at 4:06 PM
The week in review: @vanessawilliamson.bsky.social on oligarchy and taxation, and Elle Rothermich on private equity and the commodification of hospice care.
Plus, the best of Law and Political Economy from around the web, including new events, books, essays, and articles 🧵👇
Plus, the best of Law and Political Economy from around the web, including new events, books, essays, and articles 🧵👇
Reposted by The LPE Project
A good day to revisit Eamonn Coburn's post from earlier this fall: Union Busting is (Morally) Disgusting.
November 13, 2025 at 8:21 PM
A good day to revisit Eamonn Coburn's post from earlier this fall: Union Busting is (Morally) Disgusting.
Medicare's hospice benefit "was designed not to maintain a healthy market for hospice, but to disentangle hospice from market logic. To achieve this, we need to do more than merely stabilize the hospice industry through greater competition—we need to create spaces where care remains uncommodified."
Today, Elle Rothermich explains how hospice care, once rooted in service and compassion, became fertile ground for private equity—and why antitrust scrutiny alone can’t restore what was lost when care became subject to market logic.
Hospice Commodification and the Limits of Antitrust
As hospice care is increasingly dominated by private equity firms, an antitrust response, while necessary, has the potential to normalize the language of the market as the default mode for discussing…
lpeproject.org
November 12, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Medicare's hospice benefit "was designed not to maintain a healthy market for hospice, but to disentangle hospice from market logic. To achieve this, we need to do more than merely stabilize the hospice industry through greater competition—we need to create spaces where care remains uncommodified."
Reposted by The LPE Project
Trump's tariffs are always described as chaotic. They aren't chaotic. They are part of a concerted attack on the rule of law.
If you want to read about that at more length and with more penguins:
If you want to read about that at more length and with more penguins:
Today, @vanessawilliamson.bsky.social explains how Trump's capricious tariffs and attacks on the IRS are the latest iteration of a long anti-tax, anti-democratic tradition.
The Long Anti-Tax Tradition of American Oligarchy
Throughout U.S. history, oligarchs have fettered the tax power of the state to ensure that the government would be too feeble to rein in their power. The Trump Administration'
lpeproject.org
November 10, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Trump's tariffs are always described as chaotic. They aren't chaotic. They are part of a concerted attack on the rule of law.
If you want to read about that at more length and with more penguins:
If you want to read about that at more length and with more penguins: