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RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Congressional Testimony

Federal Rulemaking and the Regulatory Process

Testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law
Richard Williams | Jul 27, 2010
In this testimony, Richard Williams, Director of Regulatory Studies and Government Accountability at the Mercatus Center, addresses the key question of whether there are sufficient checks and balances on federal regulatory agencies. He recommends that 1) all aspects of regulations should be evidence-based, 2) that OIRA analysts should be focused on their role as quality control officers, and 3) that an examination should be made to determine the extent to which too many regulations result in organizational issues that adversely affect the underlying goals regulations are intended to address.

Working Paper
An Unrighteous Piece of Business image

An Unrighteous Piece of Business

A New Institutional Analysis of the Memphis Riot of 1866
Christopher Coyne, Art Carden | Jul 27, 2010
To what extent can outsiders impose sustainable change on insiders acting within existing institutional arrangements? This paper explores this question in the context of the American Reconstruction experience in Memphis, Tennessee and offers implications for current and future efforts by outsiders to engage in institutional change.

Working Paper
The Evolution of Rule of Law in Hayek's Thought, 1935-1955  image

The Evolution of Rule of Law in Hayek's Thought, 1935-1955

From Collectivist Economic Planning to the Political Ideal of the Rule of Law
Steven D. Ealy | Jul 26, 2010
Friedrich Hayek‘s interest in the ideal of rule of law as the centerpiece of a free society grew out of his analysis of the nature of centralized economic planning. This paper traces the development of rule of law in Hayek‘s thought from his early studies on economic planning through his political analysis of economics and political life.

Chart
Marginal Tax Rates Must Nearly Double to Fund Entitlement Spending image

Marginal Tax Rates Must Nearly Double to Fund Entitlement Spending

Veronique de Rugy | Jul 26, 2010
This chart by Mercatus Center Senior Research Fellow, Veronique de Rugy uses data from the Congressional Budget Office to illustrate the change in federal income tax rates that would be required to pay for federal entitlement spending.

Working Paper
Fiscal Evasion in State Budgeting image

Fiscal Evasion in State Budgeting

Eileen Norcross | Jul 22, 2010
States are entering their third fiscal year of a sustained economic and revenue contraction. Tax revenues have been declining since the first quarter of 2009 and are likely to continue their slide through 2012. Between FY 2009 and FY 2012 state budget deficits will total $300 billion in the states over the next three years. In FY 2011, states face a cumulative budget gap of $89 billion. Federal stimulus funds will be largely exhausted in the coming fiscal year with state source revenues unlikely to return to their pre-recession level. While this recession delivered a severe shock to state economies and revenues, the fiscal crisis in the states has developed over decades.