There are two main areas in which Congress can enact meaningful reform. The first is to rein in regulatory guidance documents, which we refer to as “regulatory dark matter,” whereby agencies regulate through Federal Register notices, guidance documents, and other means outside standard rulemaking procedure. The second is to enact a series of reforms to increase agency transparency and accountability of all regulation and guidance. These include annual regulatory report cards for rulemaking agencies and regulatory cost estimates from the Office of Management and Budget for more than just a small subset of rules.
In 2019, President Trump signed two executive orders aimed at stopping the practice of agencies using guidance documents to effectively implement policy without going through the legally required notice and comment process.
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Free the Economy podcast: Crushing capitalism with Norbert Michel
In this week’s episode we cover the Trump administration’s AI action plan, Detroit’s unlikely rebirth, pushing back on EU tech regulation,…

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The week in regulations: Cable TV and paper straws
Ozzy Osbourne, Hulk Hogan, and Chuck Mangione passed away. President Trump issued an Executive Order on artificial intelligence and announced a tariff deal with Japan.

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Free the Economy podcast: Costs and benefits of urban transit with John Charles
In this week’s episode we cover Dodd-Frank’s 15th anniversary, a victory for homeowners in Oregon, and an alternative to socialist grocery…
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Property Rights Fact and Fiction
Full Document Available in PDF The rise of property rights activism was…
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Property Wrongs: The Growth of Federal Land-Use Control
Full Document Available in PDF In the spring of…
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Public vs. Private Land Management: Which is Better for the Environment
Full Document Available in PDF The…
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Putting People Last: Endangered Species vs. People
Full Document Available in PDF Law-abiding, workaday Americans all across…
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Instrastate Trucking: Stronghold of the Regulators
The deregulatory wave of the 1970s and early 1980s freed the railroads, the airlines, air cargo carriers, and interstate trucking and buses from the…
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Pick a Number
Full Study Available in PDF How much would you be willing to pay for an…
Staff & Scholars

Clyde Wayne Crews
Fred L. Smith Fellow in Regulatory Studies
- Business and Government
- Consumer Freedom
- Deregulation

Ryan Young
Senior Economist
- Antitrust
- Business and Government
- Regulatory Reform

Fred L. Smith, Jr.
Founder; Chairman Emeritus
- Automobiles and Roads
- Aviation
- Business and Government

Sam Kazman
Counsel Emeritus
- Antitrust
- Automobiles and Roads
- Banking and Finance

Marlo Lewis, Jr.
Senior Fellow
- Climate
- Energy
- Energy and Environment