regulation

Could the Infrastructure Bill End Drunk Driving?

Technology historian John Mohr says that mandates for driver-monitoring tech could make it nearly impossible for an impaired driver to start and operate a car. The question is whether the auto industry will follow a historical pattern of resisting safety mandates or see them as a chance to innovate. 

As the Progressive Era Ideal of Regulation Vanishes, What Will Stop the March of AI?

by Walter G. Moss

If capital decides that artificial intelligence is sufficiently profitable to put in charge of driving our cars, writing our essays, or even teaching our history classes, what is left to stop it, even if the products are terrible or even dangerous? 

Why Guns Have Been Shielded from Consumer Safety Regulations for a Half Century

Gun industry lobbyists secured a carveout for firearms from the 1972 legislation establishing the Consumer Product Safety Commission, meaning that federal regulation can't treat guns like any other consumer product. 

God Save Us From the Economists

by Timothy Noah

Actress Jayne Mansfield was killed in a 1967 traffic accident; a truck trailer safety regulation review prompted in part by her highly public demise was finally implemented in 1996, after nearly 9,000 people were killed in similar crashes. Why? Blame a bipartisan faith in economists as policymakers. 

Legal Historians as Authority in West Virginia v. EPA

This is a note identifying the legal history sources cited in both Elena Kagan's dissent and Neil Gorsuch's concurrence in the court's ruling limiting the power of the EPA to limit emissions. 

If Ending Roe Isn't Enough, SCOTUS May Blow Up the Regulatory State

The court could decide that Congress must explicitly define the rules of regulations it passes, which could make things like environmental protection law burdensome or impossible to enforce and effectively cripple federal regulations. 

Deconstructing the Meaning and Politics of "Accidents"

A new book argues that the use of the word "accident" normalizes injury and death caused by failures of regulation and unequal distribution of vulnerability in society. 

Government Regulation is Necessary, but it has to be Smart

by Paul Sabin

Two legislative initiatives championed by the Carter administration show the challenge of balancing strong environmental regulation with administrative efficiency and accountability. The balance has, of course, been difficult to strike. 

The Liberals Who Weakened Trust in Government

by Kim Phillips-Fein

Historian Kim Phillips-Fein writes that Paul Sabin's new book "Public Citizens" adds to understanding of the rise of conservatism and the power of attacks on "big government" by focusing on the role of liberal public interest groups in exposing the capture of the liberal regulatory state by big business interests. 

America’s 40-Year Experiment With Big Business Is Over

by Nelson Lichtenstein

Biden's executive order returns to a longstanding American view of concentrated economic power as a threat to democracy. 

Restoring the Fairness Doctrine Can't Prevent Another Rush Limbaugh

by Heather Hendershot

"The repeal of the Fairness Doctrine alone did not create Limbaugh or the presidency of Donald Trump. Catering to market demands for shock and awe programming did, and that is why neither Limbaugh’s death nor a return to this network-era regulation will solve the problem."

Amazon Is a Private Government. Congress Needs to Step Up.

by Stacy Mitchell

A handful of tech companies constitute a private government with potentially dangerous control over information and commerce. Congress should boost antitrust law to reduce this power. 

The Last Days of the Tech Emperors?

by Margaret O'Mara

The mood of Congressional questioning of tech executives recalled the traffic safety debates of the mid-1960s that helped catalyze significantly more regulation for the auto industry.

Why America’s Institutions Are Failing

Two major parts of American institutional life--law enforcement and the regulatory state--have failed spectaculary as the culmination of long-term historical trends. 

Meatpacking Work has Become Less Safe. Now it Threatens Our Meat Supply

by Chris Deutsch

The modern food system rests on a thin reed of worker abuse and poor sanitation that covid-19 has finally broken.

OSHA Inspectors Are Key to Re-Opening. Their Ranks Are at a 45-Year Low

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has a key role to play in reopening the economy, but it has fewer inspectors than at any time since 1975, continuing a pattern of decline that dates to 1981. 

As Amazon Rises, So Does the Opposition

Ms. Mitchell is 47, a historian by training. But her real role is the strategist of the demise of Amazon as we know it.

When Environmentalists Won Over the Supreme Court

How one improbable legal case drove the federal government to regulate greenhouse gases.  

A Centuries-Old Idea Could Revolutionize Climate Policy

The Green New Deal’s mastermind is a precocious New Yorker with big ambitions. Sound familiar?

The History of the 501(c)(4) Exemption

The roots go back to 1913.