Federal Agency Independence and the Suppressed Role of Economists: A Discussion with Professor Joshua Wright

An independent research organization promoting new ideas for the advancement of global security, prosperity and freedom.Founded in 1961 by strategist Herman Kahn, Hudson Institute challenges conventional thinking and helps manage strategic transitions to the future through interdisciplinary studies in defense, international relations, economics, health care, technology, culture, and law.Hudson seeks to guide public policy makers and global leaders in government and business through a vigorous program of publications, conferences, and policy briefings and recommendations.Hudson Institute is a 501(c)(3) organization financed by tax deductible contributions from private individuals, corporations, foundations, and by government grants.

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<P STYLE="margin: 0px 0px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 31px; font-family: Copernicus, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #191919; text-align: justify;">Created in 1887, the Interstate Commerce Commission was the first “independent agency” outside of the president’s control that had the combined powers of all three branches of government. Independent agencies proliferated during the New Deal era, the golden age for this so-called fourth branch of government.
<P STYLE="margin: 0px 0px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 31px; font-family: Copernicus, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #191919; text-align: justify;">The formation of independent agencies was based on an idealistic view of bureaucracy: shielded from shifting political winds, a small group of technically-skilled experts could address technical issues. Economic and engineering analyses would guide independent agency decisions. However, the 21st-century reality is that federal “independent agencies” are neither independent of the executive nor guided by economic and engineering principles. Instead, independent agencies have become useful appendages of the executive branch, and economic and engineering concepts are largely silenced.
<P STYLE="margin: 0px 0px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 31px; font-family: Copernicus, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #191919; text-align: justify;">On Wednesday, June 22, former <SPAN CLASS="caps" STYLE="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">FTC Commissioner Joshua Wright will join Hudson Institute’s Director of the Center for the Economics of the Internet, Harold Furchtgott-Roth, to discuss the institutional problems of the modern administrative state and solutions for promoting economic analysis in public policy.
<P STYLE="margin: 0px 0px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 31px; font-family: Copernicus, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #191919; text-align: justify;"><SPAN STYLE="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-size: medium;"> Joshua Wright Executive Director of the Global Antitrust Institute at George Mason University Professor Joshua Wright is the executive director of the Global Antitrust Institute and a professor of law and economics at George Mason University. Wright served as a commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission (<SPAN CLASS="caps" STYLE="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">FTC) from 2013 to 2015. From 2007 to 2008, he was the<SPAN CLASS="caps" STYLE="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">FTC Bureau of Competition’s inaugural scholar-in-residence, where he focused on enforcement matters and competition policy. Wright received his J.D. and Ph.D. in economics from <SPAN CLASS="caps" STYLE="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">UCLA.
<P STYLE="margin: 0px 0px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 31px; font-family: Copernicus, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #191919; text-align: justify;"><SPAN STYLE="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-size: medium;">Harold Furchtgott-Roth Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute Harold Furchtgott-Roth is a senior fellow and the director of the Center for the Economics of the Internet at Hudson Institute. From 1997 through 2001, Furchtgott-Roth served as a commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission. Before his appointment to the <SPAN CLASS="caps" STYLE="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">FCC, he was chief economist for the House Committee on Commerce and a principal staff member on the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
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Federal Agency Independence and the Suppressed Role of Economists: A Discussion with Professor Joshua Wright

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