Can regulators do anything right these days? That seems to be a question on a lot of people's mind lately. On the one hand, the recent financial crisis and Gulf Coast oil spill, not to mention mine and pipeline explosions and even contaminated eggs, raise questions about whether regulation adequately protects the public. On the other hand...

On his first day as President, Barack Obama announced his administration's "commitment to creating an unprecedented level of openness in government." Since then, the Obama Administration has implemented a major Open Government Initiative to increase transparency, participation, and collaboration across the federal government...

The Penn Program on Regulation has launched a new blog, RegBlog, devoted to tracking important issues and developments related to regulation and regulatory processes. RegBlog features new research, highlights proposals for regulatory policy and procedures changes, and serves as a vehicle for exchanging ideas about regulation. If you have suggestions for items or issues to include in RegBlog, please send us an email...

Two prominent scholars spoke at Penn Law recently about the federal government's increasing reliance on private firms to carry out national defense functions. Paul Verkuil, the Chair of the Administrative Conference of the U.S. (ACUS), and Professor Laura Dickinson of Arizona State University's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law both raised cautions about...

The Penn Program on Regulation's Spring 2011 Risk Regulation seminar series brought together leading scholars to focus on issues related to catastrophic risk, health care, and financial reform. In March, Professors William Wilson Bratton and Michael L. Wachter, co-directors of the Institute for Law and Economics at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, presented their...