Why am I passionate about this?

The fundamental connection between law and economics rules most of the world. This is especially true in romantic relationships, whether the parties realize it or not. Being “Janites” ourselves, in addition to our day jobs of family law professor and economic consultant, we could not help but read Jane Austen and be blown away by her genius understanding of both law and economics. Moreover, the principles she draws out that govern much of her characters’ decision-making are just as applicable today in the world of online dating and Tinder. We hope our book enlightens you on law and economics in new, surprising, and romantic ways.


I wrote

Law and Economics in Jane Austen

By Kathleen E. Akers, Lynne Marie Kohm,

Book cover of Law and Economics in Jane Austen

What is my book about?

Law and Economics in Jane Austen traces principles of law and economics in sex, marriage, and romance as set out…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science

Kathleen E. Akers Why did I love this book?

The world is driven by incentives. Much of economics is not obscure theory but practically understanding how incentives affect decision-making.

Charles Wheelan’s Naked Economics provides a solid foundation for understanding how our lives revolve around economics and why understanding economic principles is critically important for evaluating the social and geopolitical world around us. 

This book was important in our analysis of Jane Austen’s work, as her use of economic principles in romance is what causes her work to be loved for centuries.

By Charles Wheelan,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Naked Economics as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This is a new edition of the best-selling economics book that won't put you to sleep. In our challenging economic climate, this perennial favourite of students and general readers includes commentary on hot topics such as automation, trade and income inequality. Ten years after the financial crisis, Naked Economics examines how policymakers managed the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.


Book cover of Marriage Markets: How Inequality is Remaking the American Family

Kathleen E. Akers Why did I love this book?

In Marriage Markets, June Carbone and Naomi Cahn, both law professors like Lynne Marie Kohm, examine how macroeconomic forces are transforming our most intimate and important spheres, and how working-class and lower-income families have paid the highest price.

Their book shows how the best-educated and most prosperous have the most stable families, while working-class families have seen the greatest increase in relationship instability because greater economic inequality has profoundly changed marriage markets.

The failure to see marriage as a market affected by supply and demand has obscured any meaningful analysis of the way that societal changes influence culture. But Jane Austen understood this principle very well.

By June Carbone, Naomi Cahn,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Marriage Markets as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Over the past four decades, the American family has undergone a radical transformation. Skyrocketing rates of divorce, single parenthood, and couples with children out of wedlock have all worked to undermine an idealized family model that took root in the 1950s and has served as a beacon for traditionalists ever since. But what are the causes of this change? Conservatives blame it on moral decline and women's liberation. Progressives often attribute it to women's
greater freedom and changing sexual mores, but they typically paint these trends in a positive light. In Family Classes, Naomi Cahn and June Carbone contend that…


Book cover of Jane Austen's Names: Riddles, Persons, Places

Kathleen E. Akers Why did I love this book?

Doody offers a comprehensive study of the names of people and places – real and imaginary – in Austen’s fiction. 

Illustrating how Austen’s creative choices reveal her virtuosic talent for riddles and puns, Doody also picks up deep stories from English history. 

Showing how Austen names signal class tensions and regional, ethnic, and religious differences, readers gain understandings of Austen’s literary techniques and cultural commentary. 

By Margaret Doody,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Jane Austen's Names as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In Jane Austen's works, a name is never just a name. In fact, the names Austen gives her characters and places are as rich in subtle meaning as her prose itself. Wiltshire, for example, the home county of Catherine Morland in Northanger Abbey, is a clue that this heroine is not as stupid as she seems: according to legend, cunning Wiltshire residents caught hiding contraband in a pond capitalized on a reputation for ignorance by claiming they were digging up a "big cheese" - the moon's reflection on the water's surface. It worked. In Jane Austen's Names, Margaret Doody offers…


Book cover of The Law and Economics of Marriage and Divorce

Kathleen E. Akers Why did I love this book?

The key role of "incentives" in family law is considered in this economic approach to family law.

The book discusses the possible adverse consequences emanating from faulty legal design, while demonstrating that good family law should provide incentives for consistent and honest behavior.

Economists, specialists in the economic analysis of law, and academic lawyers discuss recent advances in specialized studies of marriage, cohabitation, and divorce.

This work is of considerable interest to lawyers, policy-makers, and economists concerned with family law.

By Antony W. Dnes (editor), Robert Rowthorn (editor),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Law and Economics of Marriage and Divorce as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

What sort of contract is marriage? What does it offer the parties? What are the difficulties of enforcement, and the result of failed effective enforcement? This book takes an economic approach to marriage and divorce, considering the key role of 'incentives' in family law: it highlights the possible adverse consequences emanating from faulty legal design, while demonstrating that good family law should provide incentives for consistent and honest behavior. Economists, specialists in the economic analysis of law, and academic lawyers discuss recent advances in specialist work on marriage, cohabitation, and divorce. Chapters are grouped around four topics: the contractual perspectives…


Book cover of The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen

Kathleen E. Akers Why did I love this book?

Offering a great deal of historical data and analysis, this book does what most Jane Austen books do – give the Janeite reader lots of food for thought in every direction. 

It edits several essays about a wide variety of topics, including class, economics, gender, and the screen adaptations of Jane’s works. It targets an academic audience but is also engaging for any reader looking to dig deeper into Jane.

By Edward Copeland (editor), Juliet McMaster (editor),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Jane Austen's stock in the popular marketplace has never been higher, while academic studies continue to uncover new aspects of her engagement with her world. This fully updated edition of the acclaimed Cambridge Companion offers clear, accessible coverage of the intricacies of Austen's works in their historical context, with biographical information and suggestions for further reading. Major scholars address Austen's six novels, the letters and other works, in terms accessible to students and the many general readers, as well as to academics. With seven new essays, the Companion now covers topics that have become central to recent Austen studies, for…


Explore my book 😀

Law and Economics in Jane Austen

By Kathleen E. Akers, Lynne Marie Kohm,

Book cover of Law and Economics in Jane Austen

What is my book about?

Law and Economics in Jane Austen traces principles of law and economics in sex, marriage, and romance as set out in the novels of Jane Austen, unveiling how those principles still control today’s modern romance. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Love and money are constants in social connection. While culture may have changed over 300 years, principles of law and economics remain staples of modern romance – which is why Jane Austen continues to fascinate the modern mind. So sit back, enjoy, and be pleasantly taught and surprised at what you will learn from the methodical mind of Jane. 

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Eileen Goudge Author Of All They Need to Know

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