Judge, author to discuss ‘Crisis of Capitalist Democracy’

Judge Richard A. Posner of the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago is one of the most influential judges outside the Supreme Court, as well as a prolific jurist-academic who has written nearly 40 books on topics ranging from economics and jurisprudence to terrorism and sex.

Posner will discuss “The Crisis of Capitalist Democracy” during an appearance Thursday, Sept. 6, at Elmhurst College, turning what The New York Times calls his “indefatigable intellect” to the ongoing economic crisis and the efforts of the “cumbersome, clotted, competence-challenged” American system of government to respond to it.

The event is part of the annual Rudolf G. Schade Lecture Series and is sponsored in part by BMO Harris Bank.

An appellate judge since 1981, Posner long has been known as one of the nation’s most respected legal thinkers on the right. But he recently made headlines for a National Public Radio interview in which he said he has become frustrated with the modern Republican Party.

While expressing admiration for President Ronald Reagan and the economist Milton Friedman, Posner said that over the past 10 years, “there’s been a real deterioration in conservative thinking. And that has to lead people to re-examine and modify their thinking.”

Posner also is a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago and has written a number of books, including “Economic Analysis of Law,” “Law and Literature,” “Preventing Surprise Attacks: Intelligence Reform in the Wake of 9/11,” “Sex and Reason” and “A Failure of Capitalism: The Crisis of ’08 and the Descent into Depression.”

He has taught on a variety of topics, including the economic analysis of law, history of legal thought, antitrust, conflict of laws, the legislative process, family law, health law and economics, and law and science. He was the founding editor of the Journal of Legal Studies and a co-founder of the American Law and Economics Review.

He’ll present “The Crisis of Capitalist Democracy” at 7 p.m. in Hammerschmidt Memorial Chapel, 190 Prospect Ave., Elmhurst. Admission is $10 for the general public and free for Elmhurst College students, faculty, staff and alumni. Tickets are available at the door or by visiting elmhurst.edu/tix. For details, call (630) 617-3390.

The annual Rudolf G. Schade Lecture Series was created by Elmhurst alumni to honor one of the college’s best-loved professors. Schade was an exceptional teacher and an important presence on the Elmhurst campus for more than 50 years. He died in November 2000.