Markets would not function unless supported by a legal framework. That framework is no self-contained, exogenous structure; it has evolved in response to the demands of economic activity. There are laws made to modify or supplement market behavior, in an attempt to produce the desired outcomes. Such laws are often called forth by political ambitions to change the distribution of wealth, channeled through the political process.

Thus economic life and law are strongly interrelated. There is neither a pure economic system unaffected by law, nor a legal system possible to understand without...