This panel explores two related questions: (1) What is
the role of the scholar as a member of society.
Is there an obligation to do anything other than pursue
knowledge and, if so, where does it come from? (2) Does the calculus change in
response to the political situation? At what point can we or should we say that
there is a sufficient threat to our values, as scholars or as citizens, to
obligate us to make choices we might not otherwise make. Because of its
inherently normative character, and because it deals with social choices, or in
other words with matters within our collective control, legal scholarship not
only describes but recommends, and thus cannot avoid the question of its
commitments. In light of the socio-economic commitment to advance good
scholarship that does good by way of it methodology that recognizes the
inextricable connection between economic facts and values, the Trump Administration’s
proposed budget, announced tax reform, and various other initiatives are so
extreme and poorly considered that they may generate doubts among those who have
championed more traditional approaches, and offer an opportunity for
socio-economics to affect more general scholarly agendas.