Mercatus Center

Enacting True Tax Reform, Not Just Tax Cuts (with William Beach)

Simply cutting taxes allows policymakers to give voters something they want while appearing to rein in the size of government. This is a temporary illusion unless the tax cuts are combined with necessary reductions in spending—a far more difficult but also more important task.

Comprehensive Regulatory Reform (with Patrick McLaughlin and Jerry Ellig)
The American people deserve a regulatory system that solves real problems at a reasonable cost. The current system has ingrained institutional flaws that often prevent this from happening.

Addressing Concerns with Congestion Pricing (with Tracy Miller, Ted Bolema, and Thomas Savidge)
Variable tolls (also called congestion pricing) can solve the problem of congestion. Under this system, toll prices change based on how many cars are on the road. Tolls will be set higher during peak driving hours and lower (or at zero) during off-peak hours when there are fewer cars. Drivers will thereby have more incentive to drive at off-peak times, when they do not contribute to the congestion problem.

Congestion pricing does present some public policy concerns, including risks to data privacy and the potential to shift tax burdens to low-income individuals. Congestion pricing must also overcome political opposition. However, policymakers have ways to squarely address these issues.

The Need for FDA Reform: Four Models (with Adam Thierer)
The consequences of failing to implement comprehensive FDA reform will be profound for innovators and, ultimately, patients. The FDA’s role in drug and device approval needs to change, and only Congress can bring drug and device marketing into the 21st century. The FDA should be reformed to create a market in which different patient and doctor preferences regarding risks and benefits can be better served. Allowing for a diversity of preferences will improve patient health outcomes.

Comment on Proposed CFPB Arbitration Rules (with Todd Zywicki and Jason Johnston)
The proposed CFPB arbitration rules are not in the public interest and will not protect consumers as intended and required under the Dodd-Frank Act. The CFPB should go back to the drawing board, conduct a proper study with accepted econometric methodology, consider less restrictive alternatives, and reconsider its decision to impose new regulations that will inhibit an efficient and effective means of dispute resolution.

Regulatory Accumulation and Its Costs (with Nita Ghei and Patrick McLaughlin)
Federal regulations have accumulated over many decades, resulting in a system of duplicative, obsolete, conflicting, and even contradictory rules. The consequences to the economy—and to the workers, consumers, and job creators who drive economic growth and prosperity—are costly. Regulatory accumulation is a consequence of a complicated regulatory process and creates a serious problem for the US economy.

Permissionless Innovation: A 10 Point Checklist for Policymakers (with Adam Thierer)
Technological innovation fuels economic growth. For innovation to flourish, though, policymakers must send entrepreneurs a clear green light signaling a general acceptance of risk-taking that challenges existing business models and traditional ways of doing things.

Cybersecurity Policy Reforms for the 21st Century (with Eli Dourado and Andrea Castillo)
Cybersecurity policy should refrain from imposing sweeping, expensive, top-down solutions that could increase rigidities of existing systems. The federal government can better protect American information systems by shoring up its own network vulnerabilities, supporting strong encryption techniques, and reforming laws to encourage security research and reporting, so that the entities best positioned to do so can strengthen their own cybersecurity.

Should the US Export Import Bank Be Reauthorized? (with Vernonique de Rugy and Nita Ghei)
The Ex-Im Bank fails to promote exports, create jobs, or support small businesses. Rather, the Ex-Im Bank privileges subsidized firms over their unsubsidized competitors, draws capital away from other unsubsidized borrowers, and puts taxpayer money at risk, all while making US businesses less dynamic and less efficient.

Washington Legal Foundation

Comments to the U.S. Sentencing Commission on 2012 Priorities, cited in a Penn Law Review essay.

Comments to the FDA on Financial Disclosure Rules

Amicus Brief in Chevron v. Donziger, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

Amicus Brief in Pippins v. KPMG, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

Amicus Brief in Kurns v. Railroad Friction Products Corp., U.S. Supreme Court

Cato Institute

Amicus Brief in FLFMC, LLC v. Wham-O Inc., U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit