Veronique de Rugy

Senior Research Fellow

Veronique de Rugy is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center. She was previously a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a policy analyst at the Cato Institute, and a research fellow at the Atlas Economic Research Foundation. Her research interests include the federal budget, homeland security, taxation, tax competition, and financial privacy issues.

She writes a column for Reason magazine and is a regular contributor to The American, AEI's online magazine. She also blogs at The Corner at National Review Online and at Big Government.

She is the editor of the Mercatus publication series Mercatus on Policy.

Ms. de Rugy is the coauthor of Action ou Taxation, published in Switzerland in 1996. She is currently on the board of directors of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity.

Ms. de Rugy earned a MA in economics from the University of Paris IX-Dauphine and a PhD in economics from the University of Paris-Sorbonne. She previously directed academic programs for the Institute for Humane Studies-Europe in France.

PUBLISHED RESEARCH

Journal Article

Midnight Regulations and the Cinderella Effect

Antony Davies, Veronique de Rugy | Oct 01, 2009

Recent studies have shown preliminary evidence of a tendency for outgoing administrations to generate a flurry of last-minute regulatory activity. This so-called Cinderella effect is described as resulting from the combination of an administration being in power yet, because it is out-going, not being subject to political ramifications from its actions. In this paper, we look at monthly regulatory activity over the past 30 years and compare the baseline growth in regulations (measured using the proxy of pages in the Federal Register) to the growth immediately following a Presidential election when the sitting President is re-elected, not re-elected, and when the party in control of the White House changes. We find significant evidence supporting the existence of a Cinderella effect.

Research Paper/Study

Applying Strategic Risk Management at the Department of Homeland Security

Veronique de Rugy | Aug 28, 2009

In this publication, Veronique de Rugy uses port security as an example of how strategic risk management can be used to analyze threats to the nation, develop scenarios, pose key questions, and devise resource allocation options. To illustrate the potential of strategic risk management, she uses risk analysis to identify three options as to how the federal government might allocate its present resources to respond to national security threats more cost-effectively.

Research Paper/Study

Local Knowledge: Caring Communities: The Role of Nonprofits in Rebuilding the Gulf Coast

Daniel M. Rothschild, Emily Chamlee-Wright, Jennifer Zambone, Jerry Brito, Lenore Ealy, Veronique de Rugy, Virgil Storr, Peter J. Boettke, Roxanne Alvarez | Aug 2009

This issue of Local Knowledge focuses on the role of nonprofits and social entrepreneurs in rebuilding the Gulf Coast. In this issue you can read research articles that explain what social entrepreneurship is; that discuss how social entrepreneurs and nonprofits play a critical role in the response to and recovery after disasters; and that detail where and when nonprofits have played key parts in rebuilding.

MORE PUBLISHED RESEARCH

WORKING PAPERS

Stimulus Facts

Jerry Brito, Veronique de Rugy | Dec 2009

Using recipient report data from Recovery.gov and economic and political data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Census Bureau, GovTrack.us, and others, we have compiled a series of facts about stimulus spending.

Regulators’ Budget Report

Expansion of Regulatory Budgets and Staffing Continues in the New Administration

Veronique de Rugy, Melinda Warren | Oct 2009

This report tracks the budget of federal regulatory agencies and the staff needed to run those agencies based on the data of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) presented by the president in his FY 2010 Budget of the United States. A joint product of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and the Murray Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy at Washington University in St. Louis, this report continues an effort begun in 1977 by the Weidenbaum Center (formerly the Center for the Study of American Business).

President Obama's First Budget

Veronique de Rugy | Mar 2009

In this working paper, Dr. de Rugy presents the unprecedented budget of the new administration. President Obama's new era of fiscal responsibility includes running larger deficits in every of the next ten years than any of the Bush years and increasing federal spending in 2009 by at least 32 percent, spending $32,949.90 per household.

MORE WORKING PAPERS

CHARTS

Debt Held by the Public Reaches 60%

13 Years Ahead of Schedule

Veronique de Rugy | Mar 15, 2010

This chart compares Congressional Budget Office long-term projections of the debt held by the public from 2010 with long-term projections calculated in 2007.

Entitlement Spending Explodes

Veronique de Rugy | Mar 08, 2010

This chart by Veronique de Rugy illustrates the Congressional Budget Office’s long-term baseline projections of federal spending.

Recession Employment Trends

Veronique de Rugy | Mar 01, 2010

This chart compares the changes in public and private sector employment which have occurred during the past two years.

MORE CHARTS

POLICY BRIEFS

Will the Stimulus Bill Crowd Out Good Economics?

Garett Jones, Veronique de Rugy | Sep 2009

On February 13, 2009, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), with the promise that this $787 billion stimulus would “create or save” 3.5 million jobs over the next two years, mostly in the private sector. The basis for the law was a study by Christina Romer, the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors, and Vice-President Biden’s chief economist Jared Bernstein, who warned that without an economic stimulus, unemployment would reach 9 percent by the end of 2010.

The Midnight Regulation Phenomenon

Veronique de Rugy | Nov 2008

Senior Research Fellow Veronique de Rugy addresses the phenomenon of "midnight regulation." She presents data that demonstrates a clear growth in regulation at the end of past presidential administrations and explains why this phenomenon undermines sound policy.

A Solution to the Midnight Regulation Outburst

Jerry Brito, Veronique de Rugy | Nov 2008

Veronique de Rugy and Jerry Brito make recommendations to curb the proliferation of poor policies at the end of presidential tenures.

MORE POLICY BRIEFS

TESTIMONY & COMMENTS

Congressional Testimony

Analysis and Solutions of the Midnight Regulations Phenomenon

Veronique de Rugy | Feb 04, 2009

Senior Research Fellow Veronique de Rugy testified before the Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law, Committee on the Judiciary of the U.S. House of Representatives. De Rugy presented her research addressing the “midnight regulations” phenomenon and discussed effective ways to curb this endemic problem.

Congressional Testimony

Small Business Administration: Is the 7(a) Program Achieving Measurable Outcomes?

Veronique de Rugy | Nov 01, 2007

There are no significant failure of the private sector to allocate loans efficiently. The literature that does refer to a market failure is grounded in old research that doesn't take into account the tremendous developments in information technology that have reduced the high cost of accessing information about small business credit worthiness. The Small Business Administration (SBA) 7(a) loan program is largely irrelevant in the capital market. In a given year, roughly 1 percent of small business loans are SBA loans. The private sector finances most loans without a government guarantee. There is no shortage of firms or new startups in America. The data suggests that if the 7(a) loan program did not exist, entrepreneurs would start new businesses at the same rate they do now.

MORE MEDIA CLIPPINGS

Mercatus Center

Veronique de Rugy