Impact of Retail Electricity Deregulation on Consumer Prices: A Difference-in-Difference Approach
Energy / Environmental Regulation / Politics / Regulation / U.S. Domestic Policy

Impact of Retail Electricity Deregulation on Consumer Prices: A Difference-in-Difference Approach

Executive Summary Electricity is a necessary commodity for nearly every person in the United States, and while the delivery process has not changed, deregulation has altered who supplies it.  Historically, electrical markets were vertically integrated and regarded as a natural monopoly, but recent market-oriented reforms have aimed to deregulate and introduce competition to lower both … Continue reading →

How Biden Helped to Create Trump’s Unilateral Trade Policy Process
Politics

How Biden Helped to Create Trump’s Unilateral Trade Policy Process

Executive Summary The second Trump Administration has used more executive power than most previous administrations when creating trade law. President Biden also used historically strong executive authority when making trade law, including his Section 232 tariffs, emergency export restrictions, and CFIUS capital outflow clamps.  The resulting new bipartisan consensus on using executive authority to make … Continue reading →

The Social Cost of Carbon: The Politicization of a Metric 
Politics

The Social Cost of Carbon: The Politicization of a Metric 

Executive Summary  President Trump signed an executive order (EO) on his first day back in office entitled “Unleashing American Energy,” which removes Biden-era barriers to federal land leasing for energy production as a method of expanding U.S. energy production.  A significant change imposed by the order includes the Environmental Protection Agency’s mandated reassessment of a … Continue reading →

Hiding Medical Debt Won’t Cure the Problem
Politics

Hiding Medical Debt Won’t Cure the Problem

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY  On January 7, 2025, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a final rule to amend Regulation V, which implements the Fair Credit Reporting Act.  The new regulation intends to prevent creditors, rating agencies, and health care providers from accessing medical debt information.  Hiding medical debt will increase credit risk, and force health care … Continue reading →

The State of State Backed Insurance
Politics

The State of State Backed Insurance

Executive Summary Insurance of last resort is a program meant to cover individuals living in high-risk areas prone to natural disasters.  These programs are meant to supplement the private market, but overregulation of the private insurance market has prompted them to grow at an unsustainable rate. Many insurers of last resort are bleeding money at … Continue reading →

Playing Chicken with a Coyote: Why the U.S. has Less Leverage over Mexico than Trump Believes
Politics

Playing Chicken with a Coyote: Why the U.S. has Less Leverage over Mexico than Trump Believes

Executive Summary Tomorrow, the United States will impose blanket 25% tariffs on Mexico, which has promised retaliation. Mexico has much stronger incentives to follow through with retaliation than they did during their first trade dispute with President Trump in 2018. They also have a large arsenal of economic tools at their disposal to put pressure … Continue reading →

Price Transparency: How the FTC is Tackling Bait-and-Switch Pricing
Politics

Price Transparency: How the FTC is Tackling Bait-and-Switch Pricing

Executive Overview – There is a recurring practice of firms failing to disclose upfront mandatory charges in the advertised price of their goods or services, leading to an unexpected higher final cost for consumers (e.g. “resort fees” in hotel bookings and “processing fees” in ticket purchases).  – Misleading pricing threatens competition in the market, as … Continue reading →

Politics

Navigating the Promise and Peril of Gene Editing with CRISPR

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY  On December 08, 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Casgevy and Lyfgenia, the first CRISPR-based treatment for sickle cell disease.   Gene editing marks a major milestone in the potential to cure genetic disorders but, the process has raised many ethical concerns. As gene editing is a relatively recent advancement, there … Continue reading →

Politics

Cyberattacks on Utilities

Executive Summary  – A recent cyberattack targeting American Water — the US’s largest water utility provider —resulted in a breach of American’s personal information and a customer service portal shutdown, raising concerns about an increasing use of ransomware and disruption to attack critical utility infrastructure.  – The increasing number of attacks on American infrastructure has many … Continue reading →

Politics

Securing Critical Supply Chains: How New Regulations Are Shaping the Future

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY   The semiconductor industry, projected by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) to reach approximately $611 billion in value by 2024, is considered the backbone of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, serving as an essential element in modern technology and innovation.  Demand disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 caused the overall projected revenue … Continue reading →