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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. 



  • 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. 



  • 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. 



  • 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."



  • 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.