Kenneth D. Gartrell

By: Kenneth D. Gartrell

Unless the laws of man can keep pace with the advance of science we will live in a stifling world where innovation and enterprise goes unrewarded. Such a world would be arbitrary and capricious. Worst of all, it would be without promise.

As I initiate this Weblog, I’ve got a simple idea. I want to see us living happily in a world where the laws of man, as observed in the public forum, conform to the laws of nature.

I intend a journey of discovery and enlightenment. It begins with the premise that the laws of nature, as they have been expressed to me over the course of a lifetime in the science of business and economics, are pathways to the future and a better life. Based on repeated observations, it follows on with the further assertion that the administration of our laws lags too far behind the advance of our science.

How much? I don’t know exactly, but I will try to estimate as I go.

I provisionally believe our social, political and legal institutions lag the advance of science in financial economics by approximately 50 years. We are, consequently, suffering needless setbacks and burdensome restraints because our lagging political/legal institutions command property rights through the allocation of rewards and punishments from both collective and individual effort. While some degree of conservatism and skepticism in the allocation property rights seems productive for the sake of stability and order, it appears to me that a time for breakthroughs is overdue and at hand.

Whatever the true status of overall institutional affairs may be, it is worthwhile to explore the issue. If a 50-year gap in the administration of property rights is desirable then it is a good thing to know. It would seem, however, that such a gap is less than optimal on average because it approaches the span of an entire human generation between innovations and the final settlement of associated property rights.

There are uncounted swirling ideas and thoughts at the core of what motivates my thinking about these issues. It seems to me a Weblog is a fair-minded and constructive way to sort out the ideas and thoughts. With all the preceding structure and process in place the joint missions of the Weblog are:

1) to assess objectively the status of the gap between our political/legal institutions and our scientific institutions; and

2) to provide helpful observations at the joinder of law and financial economics focusing on the opportunities we have to manage our energies more precisely and more efficiently.

My intended audience is primarily comprised of those who would share my interest in the overlap of the law and financial economics including members of the legal community, financial professionals, corporate executives, and an occasional politician. I hope you will come to appreciate and enjoy my perspective.