Judge Richard Allen Posner (born January 11, 1939, New York City) is currently a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He is a major voice in the "law and economics" movement, which he helped start while a professor at the University of Chicago Law School.

Posner attended Yale College and Harvard Law School, thereafter clerking for Justice William J. Brennan of the United States Supreme Court during the 1962-1963 term. He joined the faculty of the University of Chicago Law School in 1969, where he remains a senior lecturer. President Ronald Reagan appointed Posner to the Seventh Circuit in 1981. He served as chief judge of the court from 1993 to 2000.

He famously opposed the right of privacy in 1981 by arguing that the kinds of interests protected under privacy are not distinctive. He contended that privacy is protected in ways that are economically inefficient.

Posner has a reputation for prolific publication of articles and books on a diverse number of topics including the 2000 presidential election recount controversy, the Monica Lewinsky scandal and resulting impeachment of President Bill Clinton, and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Posner's has realized his greatest influence through his writings on law and economics - The New York Times called him "one of the most important antitrust scholars of the past half-century." In December 2004, Judge Posner started a joint blog with Nobel Prize winning economist Gary Becker.

External links

• The Becker-Posner Blog
• Posner Homepage