In many jurisdictions around the world, a primary way that scientific and technical knowledge and expertise can influence society is through government regulation. Government agencies regularly conduct technical analyses of proposed regulations, which can influence whether and how a regulation is implemented. In the United States, the Biden administration recently proposed some of the most dramatic attempts to modernize US federal regulatory analysis in decades. These reforms, which are broadly consistent with the president’s objectives of promoting equity and addressing climate change, could substantially change how regulatory oversight is performed at the federal level and how benefits and costs are calculated. Although mostly in draft form [and open for public comments (1)], these reforms, if implemented, could have lasting effects on how regulation affects economic growth, on the winners and losers from regulatory activity, and on how the United States and other countries respond to long-term challenges—notably, climate change.
The complete article is available here.
Full cite: SCIENCE, Jun 1 2023, Vol 380, Issue 6648, pp. 899-901.
Robert Hahn is a senior fellow at the Technology Policy Institute and a visiting professor and former director of economics at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at Oxford University. He is also a senior policy scholar at the Georgetown University Center for Business and Public Policy. Bob has served on the faculties of Harvard and Carnegie Mellon, and has also held senior appointments at AEI and Brookings.
Bob is currently conducting several economics experiments aimed at improving productivity, and promoting growth and sustainability. He also continues to do research on government regulation, Internet policy, and understanding the benefits of breakthrough innovations. He served as a commissioner on the U.S. Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking. Many of the findings of that Commission were recently enacted into law as The Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act.
