Simkovic and Furth article proposes taxing contracts based on how much consumer attention they require to read and understand

Michael Simkovic of USC and Meirav Furth of UCLA have written Proportional Contracts, 107 Iowa Law Review, (2021).

Here's the abstract:

Contract law treats consumer attention as if it were unlimited. We instead view consumer attention as a scarce resource that must be conserved. We argue that consumer contracts generate negative externalities by overwhelming consumers with information that depletes their attention and prevents competition on contract terms. We propose a novel solution to this market failure: To force sellers to internalize the attention externalities that their contracts generate. This will be accomplished through a Pigouvian tax on the presentation of a consumer contract, proportionate to the attention costs that reading and comprehending the contract would impose on consumers.

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