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.


Going Global

A shift to a global benefit-cost perspective requires a much more rigorous and balanced evaluative structure.

OMB: Both Costs and Benefits of New Regulations Down in FY 2013

The Report indicates that the new regulations issued in FY 2013 involve lower annual costs and benefits than in FY 2012.

Spring 2014 Unified Agenda

OMB released its Spring 2014 Unified Agenda listing ongoing and upcoming regulations planned by agencies.

DOT Should Incorporate Lookback Plans into Proposed Hours of Service Rule

The Department of Transportation recently extended the comment period on its proposal establishing standards for electronic logging devices and their use.

EPA’s Unmeasurable Rule: Inadequate Analysis Obstructs Public Accountability

When outcomes and assumptions are both self-contradictory and unmeasurable, it is difficult for the agency and the public to assess a policy's effects.

EPA’s Wood Stove Analysis is Smoke & Mirrors

Flawed analysis misses influence of uncertainty

Retrospective Review: Do Agencies’ Proposals Measure Up?

As part of our continuing focus on retrospective review of regulations, the GW Regulatory Studies Center is commencing a new initiative, the Retrospective Review Comment Project. Through this project, we will examine significant proposed regulations to assess whether they include plans for conducting retrospective review, and submit comments to provide suggestions on how best to incorporate plans for retrospective review when new regulations are issued.

A Flash Judgment

Flash Boys, the latest book from Michael Lewis (author of Liar’s Poker, Moneyball, The Blind Side, The Big Short, etc.), is a nonfictional account of the development of high-frequency trading (HFT) in U.S. equity markets, and of Brad Katsuyama’s quest to reform the system by creating a new trading platform, IEX, designed to resist the most damaging HFT strategies.

Measuring the Impact of Public Comments

How much affect on the substance of agency regulations do public comments have?