August 2023

The Regulatory Studies Center is preparing for a new era as we seek our next Center Director and Research Professor! Founder Susan Dudley will continue to be an affiliated scholar and a professor in the Trachtenberg School for Public Policy and Public Administration. We are reviewing applications from practitioners and scholars who have demonstrated experience with federal regulation; knowledge of regulatory law, process, and analysis; and a professional network in the field. There's still time to apply!

Henry Hirsch is a graduate student in GW’s Master of Public Policy program and a Research Assistant at the Regulatory Studies Center. He is also pursuing a graduate certificate in data science. Henry holds a BA and an MA from St. John’s College where he studied philosophy.

The RSC team recently checked in with Trachtenberg School alumna Claire Garvin (MPP 2021) to learn more about her exciting career path in regulatory policy! 

After college Claire developed expertise in the criminal and environmental sectors. Pursuing bad actors through the legal system was important work, but being a systems-thinker, Claire was eager to be further upstream in the legal landscape. The Trachtenberg School's unique opportunity to concentrate in regulatory policy helped her make the career transition that she wanted.

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August 8, 2023
Column by Susan Dudley for Forbes on the Draft Circular A-4

OMB has proposed to lower the discount rate by which regulatory agencies translate future dollars into present value terms from 7% and 3% to 1.7%. As this hurdle rate gets lower, agencies will find it easier to justify regulations that impose short-term costs in exchange for the promise of long-term benefits on “analytical” grounds rather than policy preferences.

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August 2, 2023
Commentary by Sarah Hay

This is the first in a series of commentaries covering OIRA’s newly released guidance for federal agencies on public engagement. This piece covers the barriers to public participation and the specific strategies OIRA calls upon agencies to implement.

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July 12, 2023
Commentary by Zhoudan (Zoey) Xie, Sarah Hay, and Henry Hirsch

OMB received nearly 4,500 public comments on the proposed revisions to Circular A-4. This commentary gives an overview of those comments and presents our findings on what topics they discuss and who commented based on text analysis of the unique comments.

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July 11, 2023
Column by Susan Dudley for Forbes on the Draft Circular A-4

Susan Dudley highlights several ways in which OMB’s Draft Circular A-4 reflects less humility than existing guidance regarding government’s ability to address problems.

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June 30, 2023
Column by Susan Dudley for Forbes on the Draft Circular A-4

OMB should direct agencies to present information on distributional impacts as transparently as possible and allow policymakers to make normative policy decisions.

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June 30, 2023
Commentary by Zhoudan (Zoey) Xie

The Spring 2023 Unified Agenda has minimal changes in the number of actions compared to the Biden administration’s previous Agendas. Many of the active economically significant actions reflect agencies’ continued efforts demonstrated in previous Agendas, while the others indicate agencies’ intention of initiating rulemakings in new areas.

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Our scholars have been busy this summer analyzing and critiquing the reform proposals currently in development from the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). The Modernizing Regulatory Review actions represent the biggest changes in regulatory analysis in the past 30 years. Explore our extensive coverage below, and watch for additional commentaries, insights, and public comments from the Regulatory Studies Center to continue throughout 2023.

Listen to our podcast for insights on regulatory trends. Recent discussions have explored OMB's Draft Circular A-4, effective public engagement strategies for federal agencies, the Spring 2023 Unified Agenda, and more.

The Discounting Dilemma. Brian Mannix, June 20, 2023

Using Distributional Weights in Circular A-4 Would Encourage Wasteful Rent-Seeking. Brian Mannix, June 20, 2023

Simpler, More Transparent Analysis Will Make Circular A-4 More Valuable to the Regulatory Process. Christopher Carrigan & Stuart Shapiro, June 19, 2023

OMB Draft Circular A4: Safeguarding Objective and Evidence-Based Principles for Regulatory Impact Analysis. Susan Dudley, June 14, 2023

On Draft Circular A4, Behavioral Biases, and Discount Rates. Howard Beales III, June 5, 2023

Distributional Weights Should Be Dropped from the Draft Circular A-4. Mary Sullivan, May 31, 2023

Joe Cordes was interviewed by Newsweek for insights on how the latest Social Security cost-of-living adjustment and its impact for recipients. August 8.
Social Security Update: How Much Payments Are Expected to Increase.

C-SPAN Washington Journal, June 16. Bridget Dooling on the Congressional Review Act.

Joseph Cordes was quoted in the Washington Examiner in the article “Spending caps in debt ceiling deal could be raised later, history shows.” May 27.

Susan Dudley was quoted in The New York Times in the articles “You’ve Never Heard of Him, but He’s Remaking the Pollution Fight’’ and “Little-Noticed Part of G.O.P. Bill Could ‘Make It Impossible to Regulate;" and in the Kansas City Star in the article “From gas stoves to prairie chickens, Missouri Republican declares a war on federal regulators."

Gifts to the GW Regulatory Studies Center will make a difference in our mission to improve regulatory policy through research, education and outreach. The Center is a respected, non-partisan source of information and analysis on regulatory policy. Our scholars regularly publish research in academic journals, have helped educate a generation of leaders in the rulemaking process and are called upon by members of Congress, executive agencies, national media and industry leaders to provide insights into key regulatory policies.

Your support is key to our ability to continue to provide the objective, high quality information that is essential to constructive discourse on regulatory matters and we respectfully request that you make a tax-deductible contribution to the Center this year.