Paul H. Rubin
Paul H. Rubin (1942–2024) was the Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Economics Emeritus at Emory University. He died Aug. 24, 2024.
Rubin’s research centered on law & economics and public-choice economics. He wrote extensively on the evolution of common law, the theory of the firm, tort reform, crime and punishment, pharmaceutical regulation, congressional voting, and the economics of markets and cooperation. His work helped establish modern law & economics as a field within economics.
Before becoming emeritus, Rubin taught in Emory’s Department of Economics and maintained an affiliation with Emory Law School, where he taught tort law. He also served as director of graduate studies and as interim department chair.
Prior to joining Emory, he served as vice president of Glassman-Oliver Economic Consultants in Washington, D.C., and held an adjunct appointment at George Washington University Law School. Earlier, he was chief economist at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and held senior positions at the Federal Trade Commission and the President’s Council of Economic Advisers.
Rubin previously taught at the University of Georgia and at Baruch College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
He authored and co-authored numerous books, including “The Capitalism Paradox: How Cooperation Enables Free Market Competition,” “A Student’s Guide to Socialism: How It Will Trash Your Lives,” “Darwinian Politics: The Evolutionary Origin of Freedom,” “The Evolution of Efficient Common Law,” “Business Firms and the Common Law: The Evolution of Efficient Rules,” and “Managing Business Transactions: Controlling the Cost of Coordinating, Communicating, and Decision Making.” He also co-authored “Privacy and the Commercial Use of Personal Information” (with Thomas M. Lenard). In addition to his scholarly work, he contributed opinion essays to the Wall Street Journal.
Rubin served as president of the Southern Economic Association and was a research fellow at the Independent Institute.
He earned a bachelor’s with honors from the University of Cincinnati and a Ph.D. in economics from Purdue University.
