Restraining the regulatory state

Forty years ago, Congress launched a significant rollback of the regulatory state that had been in place since the Great Depression. Economic analyses of decades of economic regulation by the Interstate Commerce Commission, Civil Aeronautics Board, and Federal Power Commission had shown that those r...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Regulation (Washington. 1977) 2017-03, Vol.40 (1), p.44
Main Author: Crandall, Robert W
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aeronautics
Consumer protection
Cost benefit analysis
Environmental protection
Federal regulation
Interstate commerce
Laws, regulations and rules
Political aspects
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Summary:Forty years ago, Congress launched a significant rollback of the regulatory state that had been in place since the Great Depression. Economic analyses of decades of economic regulation by the Interstate Commerce Commission, Civil Aeronautics Board, and Federal Power Commission had shown that those regulatory programs had reduced consumer welfare substantially by reducing entry, increasing prices, and restraining technological progress. By the mid- 1980s, Congress had abolished the Interstate Commerce Commission and Civil Aeronautics Board and rolled back the regulatory authority of several other agencies. At the same time, however, Congress established or expanded dramatically the scope of federal health, safety, and environmental regulation. The Environmental Protection Agency, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Consumer Product Safety Commission, and other agencies began to issue far-reaching regulations in response to continuing expansions of regulatory authority granted by Congress.
ISSN:0147-0590
1931-0668