> Posner, Richard A. 1977. Economic Analysis of Law (Boston: Little
> Brown). 113: "[The baby] shortage appears to be an artifact of
> government regulation, in particular the uniform state policy forbidding
> the sale of babies.
The real fun stuff comes in Sex and Reason, where he suggests analyzing gay sex as an "inferior substituute" for straight sex and speculates on the optimal number of AIDS cases (needless to say it's a sign of his rigor that he places it above zero). But I had the impression that his most influential work was on monopoly, where he provided the intellectual underpinnings for the abandonment of anti-trust. I believe that's what made him, for a while in the '70s, the most-cited single author in law journals.
That said, a couple of liberal Chicago lawyers of my acquaintance agree with Justin Schwartz that Posner the judge is a very different man from Posner the theorist--respectful of precedent, not at all doctrinaire, etc. His old collegue Frank Easterbrook (brother of Gregg) is supposed to be a different story. Good thing they didn't pick him!
Josh