American Regulatory Policy: Factors Affecting Trends Over the Past Century

Abstract

This article examines American regulatory policy over the past century and the factors that have affected its development. Among the trends analyzed are the movement away from independent regulatory commissions, the larger role played by the institutional presidency vis-a-vis the Congress in the regulatory arena, and the growing resistance of states and localities to national government regulation and "unfunded mandates."

Disclosure-based regulation and municipal security trade prices

“…The empirical findings weigh into policy discussions on the merits and demerits of market regulation. Supporters of regulatory policy argue that tighter regulatory frameworks are needed to correct the welfare costs of price distortions in the market system, while skeptics view regulatory rules as constraining competition in the private sector and limiting economic growth (Vocino, 2003; Swamy, 2017). Findings in this article about the impacts of disclosure-based regulation should give renewed impetus to regulatory efforts aimed at further enhancing the efficiency of municipal capital markets in the USA, the UK and other regions to the extent that the empirical results are generalizable.…”

Whither Are We Bound? New Insights on American Economic Policymaking

“…Also, the greater the degree of independence of a regulatory agency, the more likely it is that appointment of agency leadership will favor individuals that hold the same ideological preferences as the appointing political principals (Ennser‐Jedenastik, ). Furthermore, politics remains a crucial factor in effective regulatory enforcement within and across different tiers of government (Gerber & Teske, ) as exemplified in state and local governments’ resistance toward federal government regulations and unfunded mandates (Vocino, ).…”

“…Over the years, regulation in U.S. policymaking contexts has received both support and skepticism. Supporters of regulation have argued that tighter regulatory schemes are required to correct the welfare costs of inefficiencies in the market system while skeptics have emphasized how regulatory schemes constrain the level of competition in the private sector and limit economic growth processes (Vocino, ). More recent research has been motivated by the failure of regulatory systems to effectively counter the range of systemic risks that culminated in the Great Recession.…”