Consumer-Supplier Relations, Regulation, and Essential Contract Theory.

Austen-Baker, Richard (2008) Consumer-Supplier Relations, Regulation, and Essential Contract Theory. Journal of Contract Law, 24 (1). pp. 60-76.

Abstract

This article interrogates certain presuppositions of consumer law and policy discourse, chiefly through the lens of Macneil’s ‘essential contract theory’, in particular his proposed contract norms. Three presuppositions are posited and then discussed in turn. The author concludes that the presuppositions are unjustified and, in so far as they are held in fact, present a risk of distortion in debating contract law reform.