Professor Oren Bar-Gill received a Young Scholars Medal at the American Law Institute’s 88th annual meeting in San Francisco on May 18. He was one of two professors to win the new honor, which recognizes practical scholarship that can influence law for the better. The ALI cited Bar-Gill’s insights into consumer psychology, utilized in his proposals for legal solutions to problems in the marketplace.
In his talk at the meeting, “Consumer Psychology and Consumer Protection—Credit Cards, Mortgages and Beyond,” Bar-Gill spoke about striving in his work to gain “a better understanding of the workings of consumer markets. The underlying insight is that consumers are imperfectly rational, and this imperfect rationality of consumers interferes with the operation of market forces. It prevents these market forces from guaranteeing efficiency and protecting consumers.... When we have a market failure, it makes sense to ask what the law can do to help.”
Watch the full video of Oren Bar-Gill's talk (38 min):
Posted on June 7, 2011