Emily Hamilton

March 3, 2022 | Urban Economics

Land use regulations limit property owners’ right to build housing. When increasing demand for housing meets a market where zoning rules constrain housing supply—as in high-cost regions in Maryland— the result is that a limited supply of homes becomes more expensive, and low-income families are forced to look elsewhere. This outcome harms the state’s most vulnerable residents and undermines the state’s continuing role as a center of economic opportunity.

Bruce Yandle

March 1, 2022 | Regulation

With 2022’s first quarter still taking shape and in spite of the tragic outbreak of war between Russia and Ukraine, the US economy is showing a strong rebound from pandemic-related shutdowns and the consequent deep recession. The economy has reacted to massive federal spending increases; supply constraints; somewhat chaotic world economic forces; and a persistent, uncertainty-laden COVID-19 pandemic. Along with all this, Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation—the result of the massive spending combined with stubborn supply chain issues—is now running at 7.5 percent with little sign of easing any time soon. Now with the Federal Reserve (Fed) committed to calm inflation, a goal made more lofty by the Russia-Ukraine war’s effects on commodity prices, the economy seems positioned to continue growing at a solid pace.

Alden Abbott

March 4, 2022 | Antitrust and Competition

The RFI, jointly issued by the Agencies, sets forth 91 sets of questions (under 15 headings) that provide ample opportunity for public comment on a large range of topics. Rather than focusing on specific analytic complexities inherent in individual questions, in this submission I reflect on the big-picture policy concerns raised by the RFI (but not alluded to in the questions). Viewed from a broad policy perspective, the initiative described in the RFI risks undermining the general respect that courts have accorded merger guidelines over the years and reducing incentives for economically beneficial business consolidations. Policy concerns that flow from various features of the RFI, which could undermine effective merger enforcement, are highlighted in the following sections. These concerns counsel against producing overly detailed guidelines that adopt a merger-skeptical orientation.

James Broughel

February 28, 2022 | Regulatory Institutions and Processes

Colorado has an opportunity to advance meaningful criminal justice reform by streamlining occupational licensing requirements for those with criminal records. The bill before this committee would expand upon licensing reforms passed in Colorado in 2018, which reduced some barriers to employment for those with criminal records. In addition to the examples in the previous section, several other states have passed some version of criminal justice–related occupational licensing reform legislation. In 2021 alone, a diverse array of states including Arizona, Georgia, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Tennessee, Washington, and the District of Columbia all passed legislation that further reduces occupational and professional licensure barriers for those with criminal records.

Matthew D. Mitchell

February 28, 2022 | Occupational Regulation and Licensure

The US incarceration rate dramatically understates the consequences of the US approach to criminal justice. Once an American steps outside of jail, he or she enters a period of “invisible punishment” in which governments deny him or her basic civil and economic liberties. Of particular concern for those hoping to reenter the workforce is that those with prior convictions can be denied a license to work in the profession of their choosing or denied a license to start a business in the field of their choosing.