No Further Comment: The Erosion of Public Comment in the EU and US

Patrick McLaughlin on the Railway Safety Act, Non-Delegation Project, and more

Hoover Institution Research Fellow Patrick McLaughlin discusses how the driving force behind safety improvements in the freight rail industry is capital investment, not minimum staffing requirements.

No Further Comment: The Erosion of Public Comment in the EU and US

While the public comment process may be in need of sensible reform, some current efforts arguably go beyond constructive changes and threaten to fundamentally alter longstanding practices which support good governance. Political scientists Steven Balla and Adriana Bunea discuss how governments on both sides of the Atlantic have recently taken steps to limit opportunities for public comment during the policymaking process. Read full commentary [https://regulatorystudies.columbian.gwu.edu/no-further-comment-erosion-public-comment-eu-and-us].

Podcast: Meet the Center’s New Deputy Director

Will Yeatman [https://regulatorystudies.columbian.gwu.edu/will-yeatman] is a lawyer specializing in administrative law and regulatory policy. He recently joined the RSC team as research professor and deputy director.

2025 Regulatory Year in Review

Looking back at the important developments from the previous year, our team highlights nine themes from a time of unprecedented change in regulation activity and practice. Policy analysts Finn Dobkin and Matias Vesperoni and research specialists Tambudzai Gundani and Henry Hirsch drill down into the details and discuss the impacts they expect these policy changes to have going forward. Read the full commentary for more insights [https://regulatorystudies.columbian.gwu.edu/2025-regulatory-year-review].

Authors Gramm & Boudreaux Discuss ‘The Triumph of Economic Freedom’

Former US Senator Phil Gramm and George Mason University economics professor Donald Boudreaux share lessons gleaned from their new book—a work notable for its approach to framing, interrogating and debunking common myths about capitalism. In conversation with Professor Susan Dudley, the authors explored the transformative power of free markets through major historical developments including the Industrial Revolution, Great Depression, New Deal reforms, the decline of America's postwar preeminence in world trade, and the Great Recession.