When the public weighs in on proposed regulation, does it matter?

Jan 22, 2018
The Department of Labor has a new rule it wants to get on the books that would change the way restaurants treat tips. It’s called the tip-pooling rule, and would let workers in the back of the house, like dishwashers and prep cooks, share the tips made by the servers in the front of the […]

How many regulations has Trump actually killed?

Jan 19, 2018
The president claims to be doing more deregulation than any other administration. Now that he's a year in, let's take stock.
President Donald Trump cuts a symbolic piece of red tape during an event at the White House promoting the administration's efforts to decrease federal regulations Dec. 14, 2017 in Washington, D.C. 
Win McNamee/Getty Images

Why investing in coal companies may not help the people living in coal country

Jan 11, 2018
When we subsidize coal companies, does that make it back to the people living in coal country? In her reporting for Quartz, economics writer Gwynn Guilford found that the answer may be a loud, resounding “no.” For her article “The 100-year capitalist experiment that keeps Appalachia poor, sick, and stuck on coal,” Guilford reported on the […]

The U.S. is rolling back transparency rules in the bribe-prone oil industry

Jan 5, 2018
The industry says disclosure puts it at a competitive disadvantage.
David McNew/Getty Images

The White House was busy while you weren't looking

Jan 3, 2018
President Trump issued a slew of regulatory rollbacks over the holidays.
President Donald Trump cuts red tape tied between two stacks of papers representing the government regulations of the 1960s, left, and the regulations of today at the White House on Dec. 14, 2017.
SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

Regulatory “Ping-Pong” no game for businesses

Dec 15, 2017
The Federal Communications Commission voted yesterday to get rid of Obama-era net neutrality rules that were just over two years old. It was a similar story over at the National Labor Relations Board, where some Obama-era rules that unions liked, and companies didn’t, have gone away. Politics aside, this kind of big switch, when a […]

Even banks support making U.S. shell companies less secretive

Nov 9, 2017
Banks hope that a crackdown on the secrecy behind U.S.-based shell companies will make their jobs easier.
Wells Fargo banks in Woodbury, Minn.
AREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

This California neighborhood was exempt from fire rules. Now much of it is in ashes.

Oct 16, 2017
Over the past week, Northern California has seen some horrific fires blaze across its neighborhoods. One of the remarkable things about those fires, in addition to their speed and the scale of the destruction, is what buildings burned and where those buildings were. The Tubbs Fire, which hit the city of Santa Rosa, has burned […]

Social media giants gear up for possible regulation

Sep 29, 2017
Pressure is mounting on Facebook, and now Twitter, to take action over ads bought or accounts created to apparently breed divisiveness or exert influence over the American public. While the companies are staving off political outcries with promises of self-regulation, they’re also increasing lobbying and policy efforts. Click the audio player above to hear the […]

Now we can measure economic policy uncertainty

Jul 12, 2017
"As economic policy becomes less clear and more uncertain, small businesses are more hesitant to invest," economist says.
Traders monitor prices in the Volatility Index (VIX) pit at the Chicago Board Options Exchange.
Scott Olson/Getty Images