A tour de force that corrects a misconception long embraced by both the left and the right about markets and regulation Almost everyone who follows politics or economics agrees on one thing: more regulation means less freedom. Joseph William Singer, one of the world's most respected experts on property law, explains why this understanding of regulation is simply wrong. While analysts as ideologically divided as Alan Greenspan and Joseph Stiglitz have framed regulatory questions as a matter of governments versus markets, Singer reminds us of what we've willfully forgotten: government is not inherently opposed to free markets or private property, but is, in fact, necessary to their very existence. Singer uses the recent subprime crisis to demonstrate: Regulation's essential importance for freedom and democracy Why consumer protection laws are a basic pillar of economic freedom How private property rests on a regulatory infrastructure Why liberals and conservatives actually agree on these relationships far more than they disagree This concise volume is essential reading for policy makers, philosophers, political theorists, economists, and financial professionals on both sides of the aisle.

In "The Edges of the Field" Harvard law professor Joseph William Singer offers a brilliant and cogent look at America's complex relation to property and ownership. Incorporating examples as far-reaching as the experience of Malden Mills owner and Polartec manufacturer Aaron Feuerstein, the Torah, and the musical Rent, Singer reminds us that ownership is a curious blend of security and vulnerability between owner and nonowner. He proposes that the manner in which property shapes social relations of power is as important as ownership rights.