Commodified Promises and Contract Theory

This is a comment on Erik Encarnacion, “Contract as Commodified Promise.” In that article, Encarnacion offers a novel and provocative approach to understanding what the justifications and limits of contract law are, and should be: one grounded on a commodification theory. The commentary notes the potential strengths of a commodification approach, but also raises concerns. In particular, the article notes that one might worry that trying to guide outcomes – or even just guide analyses – through commodification might exacerbate disagreements rather than reduce them.