Has the United States suffered a regulatory breakdown? The answer to this question might appear to be an obvious “yes.” Over the past several years, the nation has suffered not only a sustained economic downturn triggered by a cataclysmic financial crisis but also one of the worst...

This paper offers a retrospective assessment of economist George Stigler's classic article, The Theory of Economic Regulation. Stigler argued that regulation is a product that, just like any other product, is produced in a market, and that it can be acquired from the governmental...

Consistent with a long line of previous administrations, the White House's Office of Management and Budget published in June an organizational reform plan, offering more than 80 recommendations that detail government-wide and agency-specific organization changes to restructure, consolidate, and...

This chapter examines the origins and development of independent regulatory agencies in the United States, discusses the agencies and commissions typically considered “independent,” and considers foundational topics for the scholarship on regulation more broadly, including regulatory capture...

Scholars of regulation generally view the procedures that agencies must follow when promulgating rules as instruments by which political principals control bureaucratic agents. Much like political principals attempt to use procedural checks to constrain regulatory agencies’ actions, these same...

Summary of Argument: Throughout this proceeding, EPA has identified no policy or normative criteria to justify its NAAQS standards, thus suggesting that science alone can be used to determine the appropriate air quality standard. Science plays a critical, indeed essential, role in evaluating the...

Law plays a central role in the management of risk in society. The rules adopted by regulatory agencies now affect nearly every facet of the economy, and as such regulation has motivated a substantial body of academic research. Law and economics research on regulation has, first, demonstrated...

Following the June 2019 explosion at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) refinery, the city of Philadelphia now confronts major challenges associated with the future of the refinery site. Whether the site is reopened as a refinery or other chemical-processing operation, or redeveloped for...