Economic regulation and its reform: what have we learned?

• Position: Bureau Books

Economic Regulation and Its Reform: What Have We Learned?, edited by Nancy L. Rose, is now available from the University of Chicago Press.

The past thirty years have witnessed a transformation of government economic intervention in broad segments of industry throughout the world has taken place. Many industries historically subject to economic price and entry controls have been largely deregulated, including natural gas, trucking, airlines, and commercial banking. However, recent concerns about market power in restructured electricity markets, instability amid chronic financial stress in the airline industry, and the challenges created by the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, which allowed commercial banks to participate in investment banking, have led to calls for renewed market intervention.

Economic Regulation and Its Reform explores a wide range of issues surrounding government economic intervention. Te essays observe that assessing the costs and benefits of...