Unconstitutional Conditions Obscured: A Brief Response to Professor Abrams

In this Article, Professor Epstein responds to Professor Abram's critique of the former's article on the doctrine of unconstitutional conditions. Professor Epstein organizes his response in three parts. He first addresses Professor Abram's contention that Professor Epstein has not explained why the use of monopoly power by the government constitutes a situation that requires some constitutional supervision. Second, Professor Epstein answers Professor Abram's claim that the former's economic analysis is flawed because it requires reliance upon motivational investigations ordinarily regarded as out of bounds by economic theory.

Third, Professor Epstein answers the claim that he inadequately treated the externality problem as it arises in economic theory. The author concludes by noting that Professor Abrams' article, which is critical, negative, and fundamentally misguided, adds nothing to the sum of human knowledge.