Against Law, For Order

http://jacobinmag.com/spring-2012/against-law-for-order/

Where these two intellectual traditions intersect is the Coase
Theorem, which states that in a world with no transaction costs,
negotiations between individuals will always leads to the results that
maximize wealth. Coase, a student of Hayek, incorporates Hayek's
notion of "spontaneous order," and rejects the idea that government
could improve on the outcome created by rational individuals
bargaining among themselves. Criminal punishment, as Epstein would
argue, creates the boundaries of the free market, and as such is the
place where the government should focus. Epstein notes, "I do think
that the prohibition against force and fraud is the central component
of a just order."
---SPSmith