The New New Behavioral Law and Economics

On September 25-26, 2025, the University of Minnesota Law School will host a conference, “The New New Behavioral Law and Economics.” Making policy is challenging, and getting more so all the time. Indeed, policymaking is at a critical juncture, with significant complexities and perils at the fore while the role of experts and expertise, and a consensus as to "truth," is very much in question. This conference explores two contexts characterized by extreme uncertainty: finance and climate. Join experts from across the U.S. and around the world as we consider these challenges.

This conference considers how policy might be better informed by incorporating two pervasive but neglected concepts that, together, are part of a reconception of human rationality: 

• First, that we live in a world of uncertainty rather than risk, where the possible outcomes of a policy are either unknown or their probabilities are not calculable.
• Second, the differences among people, as reflected and formed by nature, nurture, and circumstances -- who they are (that is, their identities) and what they think (that is, their worldviews and preferences) - can help explain what works and what does not in policy, and suggest possible solutions. 

The two concepts are significant components of what might be called the New New Behavioral Law and Economics.  The explanations sought are "as simple as possible — but no simpler."

Event Schedule

Thursday, September 25

• 1:45-2:00 pm
  • Welcome Remarks
  • Speakers: Dean William McGeveran and Claire Hill
• 2:00-2:45 pm
  • Book Talk: Radical Uncertainty
  • Speaker: Sir John Kay (virtual)
  • Moderators: Claire Hill, Brett McDonnell
• 2:45-3:30 pm
  • Book Talk: Hidden Fallacies in Corporate Law and Financial Regulation
  • Speakers: Alexandra Andhov (virtual), Claire Hill, Saule Omarova (virtual)
  • Moderators: June Carbone, Jennifer Hill
• 3:30-3:45 pm
  • Break
• 3:45-5:45 pm
  • Uncertainty in Finance and Corporate Governance
  • Speakers: Matthew Bodie, Stavros Gadinis (virtual), Charles R. Korsmo, Alessio Pacces
  • Moderator: Brett McDonnell

Friday, September 26

• 8:15-8:45 am
  • Continental Breakfast
• 8:45-9:00 am
  • Welcome Remarks
  • Speaker: Claire Hill
• 9:00-9:45 am
  • Keynote: Book Talk: Fluke: Chance, Chaos, and Why Everything We Do Matters
  • Speaker: Dr. Brian Klaas
  • Note: Recorded session
• 9:45-10:00 am
  • Break
• 10:00-11:30 am
  • Uncertainty: Climate
  • Speakers: Vanessa Casado Perez (virtual), Arden Rowell, Jack Whiteley
  • Moderator: Jack Whiteley
• 11:30 am – 1:00pm
  • Lunch
  • Ecological Conceptions of Rationality
    • Speaker: William Casebeer
• 1:00-1:30 pm
  • Book Talk: The Magic of Code
  • Speaker: Samuel Arbesman (virtual)
• 1:30-2:00 pm
  • The Flexible Thinker: An Archetype for Human Behavior
  • Speaker: Lasana Harris
• 2:00-2:15 pm
  • Break
• 2:15-3:55 pm
  • Homo realisticus
  • Speakers: Nick Bednar, William Casebeer, Claire Hill,  Jodi Short
  • Moderator: Nick Bednar
• 3:55-4:10 pm
  • Break
• 4:10-5:35 pm
  • Homo diversus: Nature, Nurture, and Circumstances
  • Speakers: Avner Ben-ner, June Carbone, Thomas Talhelm
  • Moderator: Avner Ben-ner
• 5:35-5:45 pm
  • Closing Remarks
  • Speaker: Claire Hill

Featured Publications

• Fluke: Chance, Chaos, and Why Everything We Do Matters by Brian Klaas
• Hidden Fallacies in Corporate Law and Financial Regulation: Reframing the Mainstream Narratives by Alexandra Andhov, Claire Hill, and Saule Omarova
• The Magic of Code: How Digital Language Created and Connects Our World—and Shapes Our Future by Samuel Arbesman
  • Use code ARBESMAN20 for 20% off The Magic of Code between September 20 through October 4!
• Radical Uncertainty: Decision-Making Beyond the Numbers by John Kay and Mervyn King