Commentaries & Insights

Our Commentaries and Insights are short-form publications intended to distill long-form research and synthesize current policymaking activity into easily understood concepts.


Senators: Put Politics Aside in Reforming America’s Regulatory System

While most of GW was quiet Thursday in the last days of spring break, two U.S. senators were addressing a crowd of more than 300 at the Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis 8th Annual Conference at the University Student Center.

Pitching Retrospective Review as a Cure for Regulatory Accumulation

Retrospective review may be the best way to address this inevitable regulatory buildup, but the path to effective review of regulations has many obstacles.

The Role of FDA Regulation in the Fight Against the Zika Virus

FDA's assessment of potential remedy remains unreleased

Space-Time Trading: Special Relativity and Financial Market Microstructure

High frequency traders attempt to exploit physics to gain an advantage

Senate Shows Continuing Interest in Regulatory Reform

Regulation is one of the primary vehicles by which federal policy is formulated, and it affects every household, employee, and business in the United States. Recognizing the importance of the regulatory process, the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee recently released a report, “Direct From the Source: Understanding Regulation From the Inside Out,” which features some practical solutions for regulatory reform submitted by the GW Regulatory Studies Center and other sources.

Looking Ahead to Regulation in 2016

Although Congress will not likely enact new legislation in President Obama’s final year in office, regulatory agencies are a different matter.

President Obama’s Regulatory Output: Looking Back at 2015 and Ahead to 2016

HHS leads the way in finalizing new economically significant rules

Are Chemical Risk Assessment and Benefit-Cost Analysis Compatible?

Executive Order 12866 requires benefit-cost analyses for all regulations; in many cases these economic analyses rely upon risk assessment for critical inputs. Usually this is not a problem; in principle, risk assessment and benefit-cost analysis are perfectly compatible.