Dawson, p. 209: Patterson, An Apology for Consideration

 

Patterson says that the enforcement of bargained-for promises is essential to the modern free-market economy.

 

Some may object that (1) bargaining is basically a competition where the two sides try to cheat each other and that (2) accepting the “bargained-for” test means interfering with familial and friendship relations.

 

Patterson defends bargaining as an “important pattern of conduct” in a market economy.  He also says bargaining promotes individual choice more than legal authority.  Finally, he claims that the process of reciprocal exchange is so socially familiar that it makes consideration an easy concept for the general public to understand.

 

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