in the 18th century adam smith presented a philosophical foundation for explaining the relationship between law and economics. the discipline arose partly out of a critique of trade unions and u.s. antitrust law. the most influential proponents, such as richard posner and oliver williamson and the so-called chicago school of economists and lawyers including milton friedman and gary becker, are generally advocates of deregulation and privatisation, and are hostile to state regulation or what they see as restrictions on the operation of free markets.