Richard Williams

Director, Regulatory Studies Program and Government Accountability Project

Richard Williams is the director of the Regulatory Studies Program and the Government Accountability Project. Prior to joining the Mercatus Center, he served as the director for social sciences at the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition in the Food and Drug Administration for 27 years. He also served as an advisor to the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis and taught economics at Washington and Lee University. Dr. Williams is a U.S. Army veteran who served in Vietnam.

Dr. Williams is an expert in benefit-cost analysis and risk analysis, particularly associated with food safety and nutrition. He has published in Risk Analysis and the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management and has addressed numerous international governments, including the United Kingdom, South Korea, Yugoslavia, and Australia.

Dr. Williams received his PhD and MA in economics from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA, and his BS in business administration from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA.

PUBLISHED RESEARCH

Research Paper/Study

21st Century Regulation: Discovering Better Solutions to Enduring Problems

Bruce Yandle, Henry Wray, Richard Williams, Scott Farrow, Andrew Perraut, Gary E. Marchant | Jan 07, 2009

This publication is the first in a new series of long-term research and discussions focused on finding solutions to the most pressing regulatory hurdles. This compendium consists of five papers addressing multiple regulatory challenges for the new presidency and the federal government to consider.

WORKING PAPERS

Regulation Checklist: Common Pitfalls in Regulations

Richard Williams | Jan 12, 2010

Federal regulations are mandated by the executive branch of the federal government and are used to implement, in some cases to finely tune, laws from Congress. They reach most aspects of American life and touch every single individual in some way. The U.S. federal government creates an average of about 4,000 final regulations each year with about 500–700 reviewed by the White House (the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs).

Facilitated Market Solutions for Social Problems

Richard Williams | Sep 2008

This working paper by Mercatus Center Research Associate, Andrew Perraut and Richard Williams, the Managing Director of Regulatory Studies Program and Government Accountability Project explores the use of market based solutions to address social problems.

The Influence of Regulatory Economists in Federal Health and Safety Agencies

Richard Williams | Jul 2008

This paper presents the results of a series of interviews with senior economists in federal, health, safety, environmental, and homeland security agencies (hereafter referred to as HSE) combined with reflections by the author who served more than 25 years in a similar capacity. The purpose of the interviews was to determine how much influence these economists and their analyses exerted over regulatory policy and the reasons why they might not be as effective as would be optimal.

POLICY BRIEFS

Food Safety in the 21st Century

Richard Williams, Robert Scharff, David Bieler | Feb 24, 2010

In a March 2009 address, President Obama declared, “There are certain things only a government can do. And one of those things is ensuring that the foods we eat . . . are safe and don’t cause us harm.” Though this idea that only the government can control food safety risk may have been true at the turn of the 20th century, since then three important changes have occurred.

Taxing Sin

Richard Williams, Katelyn Christ | Jul 2009

Sin taxes in modern economic terms amount to excise, or per unit, taxes that are chiefly designed to reduce specific behaviors thought to be harmful to society. Sin taxes have played roles of varying importance throughout U.S. tax history. The ever-expanding list of taxable "sins" proposed by governments includes cigarettes, alcoholic beverages, gasoline, bullets, and, more recently, sugary soft drinks and fatty snacks.

Taxing Sins: Are Excise Taxes Efficient?

Richard Williams, Katelyn Christ | May 2009

In this Mercatus on Policy, Richard Williams and Katelyn Christ of the Mercatus Center discuss the dangers and shortfalls of excise taxes on soft drinks.

MORE POLICY BRIEFS

TESTIMONY & COMMENTS

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.

Public Interest Comment

Public Interest Comment on the Draft 2010 Report to Congress on the Benefits and Costs of Federal Regulations and Unfunded Mandates on State, Local, and Tribal Entities

Richard Williams, Jerry Ellig, John Morrall | Jul 06, 2010

As always, OMB has produced a very thorough report based on the instructions provided in the Regulatory-Right-to Know Act. Nevertheless, it is time to re-examine this report to see if it can be made more useful for those responsible for the regulatory state.

Public Interest Comment

Comment on Methyl Mercury Risk Assessment

Richard Williams | Jun 09, 2009

In this Public Interest Comment, Managing Director of the Regulatory Studies Program Richard Williams suggests that the benefit/risk approach is the best method to assess the risk of methyl mercury in commercial fish.

MORE TESTIMONY & COMMENTS

MORE MEDIA CLIPPINGS

Mercatus Center

Richard Williams