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Over the last four years, the Trump administration continued the longstanding framework for OIRA regulatory oversight, but it also developed new oversight tools, such as the new regulatory budgeting framework of Executive Order 13771. How will the new Biden Administration structure its own frameworks for regulatory oversight? What old and new tools will it keep? And what new innovations might it deliver? To discuss these and other issues, the Gray Center hosted a webinar conversation with several leading experts: Michael Livermore of the University of Virginia School of Law, Jennifer Nou of the University of Chicago Law School, and Stuart Shapiro of the Rutgers University Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. The conversation was moderated by the Gray Center's Director, Adam White. This was the first event in the Gray Center's 2021 virtual event series, "The Administrative State in Transition." This episode features Michael Livermore, Jennifer Nou, Stuart Shapiro, and Adam White. Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/gray-matters/the-future-of-white-house-regulatory-oversight-in-the-biden-administration/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to Gray Matters in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

In 2008, Michael Livermore and Richard Revesz wrote Retaking Rationality, a book arguing that cost-benefit analysis of regulations should be recognized not as an anti-regulatory weapon, but rather a nonideological tool for promoting good government. Now they return with a new book, Reviving Rationality, which analyzes developments since 2008, and proposes further reforms for cost-benefit analysis going forward. They discuss it with the Gray Center's Executive Director, Adam White. Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/gray-matters/reviving-rationality-with-michael-livermore-and-richard-revesz/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to Gray Matters in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

Governments make rules. But governments often grant exemptions from those rules, either when the rules are written or in the ways they are enforced. And those exemptions are the subject of a new article: "Unrules" by Cary Coglianese, Gabriel Scheffler, and Daniel Walters.   Professors Coglianese and Walters are our guests today. They describe the two main categories of unrules ("dispensations" and "carve-outs") and consider how administrative law might be reoriented to better account for them. Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/gray-matters/the-unrule-of-law-as-the-law-of-unrules-with-cary-coglianese-and-daniel-walters/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to Gray Matters in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

Last summer, the Supreme Court ended its year's work with significant decisions involving administrative agencies. This new year now underway is set to include major cases involving agency structure and independence; transparency; and a host of other issues. To discuss these issues and broader themes of administrative governance, the Gray Center's annual Supreme Court preview featured three experts: Jonathan Adler of the Case Western Reserve University, Aditya Bamzai of the University of Virginia, and Katie Townsend of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. The discussion, in a live webinar on October 23, 2020, was moderated by our Executive Director, Adam White. Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/gray-matters/annual-supreme-court-preview-2020-2021/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to Gray Matters in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

Congress's enactment of the Clean Air Act fifty years ago was meant to change our environmental impacts -- but did it change Congress, too? That is the question that Prof. Frank Manheim of George Mason University's Schar School of Public Policy asks in his new working paper, "Transformation of Congressional Lawmaking by the Clean Air Act of 1970 and Its Effects." In this episode, part of the Gray Center's "Congress and the Administrative State" conference series, Prof. Manheim and Adam White are joined by Prof. David Schoenbrod, a Trustee Professor of Law at the New York Law School and a Senior Fellow at the Niskanen Center, to talk about environmental law and modern lawmaking. Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/gray-matters/the-clean-air-act-and-the-transformation-of-congress-frank-manheim-and-david-schoenbrod-congress-and-the-administrative-state-series/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to Gray Matters in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

The executive branch's bureaucracy gets a lot of attention. But Congress's bureaucracy gets much less--yet it is extremely important. In a new Gray Center working paper titled "The Congressional Bureaucracy," Professors Abbe Gluck and Jesse Cross analyze several parts of Congress's bureaucracy--some well-known, like the Government Accountability Office, and others less so, like the Office of Law Revision Counsel.  In this episode, they discuss their new paper with Gray Center Executive Director, Adam White, and Professor Josh Chafetz. Together, they consider what "the congressional bureaucracy" tells us about Congress itself and the laws that it enacts. Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/gray-matters/thinking-about-the-congressional-bureaucracy-with-abbe-gluck-jesse-cross-and-josh-chafetz-congress-and-the-administrative-state-series/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to Gray Matters in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

We often think of modern cost-benefit analysis as being a requirement primarily of executive orders, not statutes. Needless to say, Executive Order 12291 and 12866, and other executive orders and presidential documents, are of central importance. But Congress has done much on matters of cost-benefit analysis, too, often requiring agencies to consider costs and benefits, and sometimes even requiring rules to be net-beneficial. Professor Caroline Cecot of George Mason University's Antonin Scalia Law School explores this in her new Gray Center working paper, "Congress and the Stability of the Cost-Benefit Analysis Consensus." She discusses it in today's episode, with Gray Center Executive Director Adam White and with Professor Ricky Revesz, NYU's Lawrence King Professor of Law and Director of the Institute for Policy Integrity. Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/gray-matters/congress-and-cost-benefit-analysis-with-caroline-cecot-and-ricky-revesz-congress-and-the-administrative-state-series/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to Gray Matters in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

Administrative Law scholars think of 1946 as the year that Congress enacted the Administrative Procedure Act. But too often we neglect another major law that Congress enacted in that year: the Legislative Reorganization Act. The LRA was intended to position Congress for long-term management of the administrative state. But its proponents were disappointed to see major provisions dropped from the final bill, and after its enactment the LRA generally failed to live up to its framers' expectations. How can the LRA inform debates about Congress today? And how should the LRA help us to understand the 1946 Congress's goals for the APA itself? Professor Joseph Postell of Hillsdale College explores this in his new Gray Center working paper, "The Decision of 1946: The Legislative Reorganization Act and the Administrative Procedure Act." He discusses it in today's episode with Adam White and with Jeremy Rabkin of the Antonin Scalia Law School. Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/gray-matters/the-decision-of-1946-the-legislative-reorganization-act-and-the-apa-with-joseph-postell-and-jeremy-rabkin-congress-and-the-administrative-state-series/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to Gray Matters in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

Today's guest is Professor Joshua Wright -- a University Professor of Law at George Mason University, Director of the law school's Global Antitrust Institute, a former FTC Commissioner, and one of the nation's leading scholars of antitrust law and policy. Professor Wright and Jan Rybnicek recently co-authored an essay on recent calls to use antitrust law to regulate or break up "big tech" companies. The essay is titled "A Time for Choosing: The Conservative Case Against Weaponizing Antitrust," and it is among the first essays in a series published by National Affairs, a quarterly journal on policy. The series, edited by the Gray Center's Executive Director, Adam White, is "Big Tech, Big Government: The Challenges of Regulating Internet Platforms." In this episode, Professor Wright discusses his essay, particularly in light of the new House Judiciary Committee staff report calling for government regulation or break-up of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google. Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/gray-matters/joshua-wright-on-weaponizing-antitrust-against-tech-companies/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to Gray Matters in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

On September 24, 2020, the Gray Center co-hosted a live webinar, "After 50 Years, What Is the National Environmental Policy Act Today?" in partnership with Antonin Scalia Law School's Society for Environmental and Energy Law. On January 1, 1970, President Nixon signed the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) into law. A briefly worded but powerful law, NEPA requires federal agencies to consider the environmental impacts of the actions that they take, and the actions that they authorize others to take. Fifty years later, how should we think of how NEPA has been implemented, and how it might be implemented in the years ahead? This webinar brought together two leading experts to tackle these questions: Professor E. Donald Elliott of Scalia Law, Yale Law, and Covington & Burling; and Professor Michael Gerrard of Columbia Law. The discussion was moderated by the Gray Center's Executive Director, Adam White, with welcome remarks from Scalia Law student Gary Bridgens, president of the Society for Environmental and Energy Law. Featuring Gary Bridgens, E. Donald Elliott, Michael Gerrard, and Adam White. Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/gray-matters/after-50-years-what-is-the-national-environmental-policy-act-today/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to Gray Matters in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

Today's guest is Professor Adam Mossoff, a leading scholar of intellectual property and Co-Founder of Scalia Law's Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property (CPIP). Three years ago, CPIP and the Gray Center co-hosted a major conference on the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), a new regulatory body empowered to revoke companies' patents through an administrative process instead of a judicial trial. Months later, in Oil States Energy Services v. Greene's Energy Group, the Supreme Court upheld the PTAB's constitutionality, and declared patent rights to be "public rights"--a discretionary grant of privilege by the executive branch, revokable at will. This decision had major ramifications for both intellectual property law and the innovation economy that rests on that body of law. In today's episode, Professor Mossoff and Adam White revisit the Oil States decision--the issues, and the impact. Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/gray-matters/adam-mossoff-on-the-innovation-economy-and-the-administrative-state/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to Gray Matters in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

We admit it, administrative law is a complicated subject -- and, some say, a notoriously dull one. AdLaw is often a challenging subject to teach in the classroom, and even more challenging outside of it. The Gray Center is only one of several institutions that attempt to bring these issues to non-specialists. Another is Ballotpedia.org: Two years ago it created an Administrative State Project to serve as a public resource on administrative law, and today its encyclopedic website offers hundreds of pages of educational materials on the administrative state's modern work and historical underpinnings. In this episode, Adam is joined by Christopher Nelson, who manages Ballotpedia's Administrative State Project. Featuring Christopher Nelson and Adam White. Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/gray-matters/teaching-administrative-law-outside-the-classroom-ballotpedias-christopher-nelson/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to Gray Matters in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

The Federal Trade Commission is a century-old agency facing some of the most cutting-edge technologies and issues of our time. How should an agency apply old laws to new technologies? To conclude the Gray Center's series of podcast conversations on innovation and regulation, Commissioner Noah Phillips joins Adam White to discuss issues ranging from the nondelegation doctrine, to agency structure and process, to issues like market competition and personal privacy. This live webinar was recorded on September 2, 2020. Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/gray-matters/tech-regulation-series-keynote-conversation-with-ftc-commissioner-noah-phillips/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to Gray Matters in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

During this era of disruptive technological change, heavy-handed regulation can stifle innovation and unintentionally undermine the public interest. Yet regulators are tasked by Congress with promoting particular policies, often under old statutes with outdated information. How can regulators best do their jobs in a way that promotes innovation and the public interest? In a pair of new Gray Center working papers, Gus Hurwitz (University of Nebraska) and Geoffrey Manne (International Center of Law & Economics) offer two new ways to think of the regulatory task: "Regulation as a Discovery Process," in which the regulatory process is geared toward promoting the creation and spread of knowledge; and "Regulation as Partnership," in which the regulators and the regulated see each other in less adversarial terms. To discuss these papers, Adam White interviews Hurwitz, Manne, and Jennifer Huddleston (American Action Forum) to describe the biggest opportunities--and biggest problems--presented in Manne's and Hurwitz's proposed reforms. Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/gray-matters/rethinking-regulatory-paradigms-in-a-high-tech-era/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to Gray Matters in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

Conversations about "the administrative state" usually focus on federal regulators, but for many upstart tech companies, local regulation often presents the most significant challenges. Uber and Lyft, for example, famously collided with local taxicab regulations. And "short-term rental" companies like AirBNB have faced countless regulations from countless regulators. That is the subject of a new Gray Center Working Paper by Professor Jordan Carr Peterson (North Carolina State). In "Zoning for Disruption," he finds that AirBNB's arrival in a city can trigger significant regulatory responses not spurred by less-famous short-term rental companies. He describes that dynamic, and the wide range of regulations at issue. To discuss his paper, and broader issues of regulation and short-term rentals, Adam White and Professor Peterson are joined by the University of Idaho's Professor Stephen Miller and AirBNB's former Head of Policy Strategy, David Owen. Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/gray-matters/airbnb-and-local-regulators/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to Gray Matters in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

Nearly 25 years ago, Congress enacted Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, declaring web sites would not be treated as "publishers" in posting third-party statements, and that their "good faith" efforts to edit or moderate content would not expose them to legal liability. In those days, this legal protection helped the early generation of Internet web sites grow and change the world. Today, Section 230 has become the central focus of today's debates surrounding Facebook, Twitter, and other Internet platforms. In this episode, Enrique Armijo (Elon University) and Matthew Feeney (Cato Institute) join Adam White to discuss the Gray Center Working Papers that they recently published on the Section 230 debates, and the broader technological and policy issues at stake. This is one episode in a series of podcasts on current tech regulations, discussing new working papers that were debated in Gray Center research roundtable last year. Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/gray-matters/section-230-and-the-regulation-of-web-sites/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to Gray Matters in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

Philip Howard, a lawyer and author, founded Common Good to call for fundamental reform of America's bureaucratic, legal, and political institutions. And he sees the nation's most recent controversies--government responses to Covid-19, and episodes of police misconduct--as exemplifying the breakdown of governance and social trust. In a July op-ed for USA Today, he wrote that "America needs a new public operating system that re-empowers people with responsibility to deal sensibly with" matters of governance. How would we "reboot" America's "operating system"? And, more fundamentally, what is "the common good"--and how can Americans work together to advance it? To discuss these themes, he joins Adam White for today's episode. Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/gray-matters/the-common-good-rebuilding-trust-and-rebooting-the-system-with-philip-howard/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to Gray Matters in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

The fourth year of any presidential term is driven by a sense of urgency, and the administration's regulatory or deregulatory agenda is no exception. President Trump's fourth year has been further complicated by the Covid-19 outbreak, and the administration's regulatory and deregulatory responses. To put the last few months into perspective and to look ahead to the coming months, Adam White chats with Bridget Dooling of George Washington University's Regulatory Studies Center, and Philip Wallach of the R Street Institute. Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/gray-matters/minutes-to-midnight-or-four-more-years-the-regulatory-agenda-with-bridget-dooling-philip-wallach/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to Gray Matters in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

The words "executive privilege" are not found in the Constitution, but some form of presidential secrecy has been asserted by presidents from George Washington onward. The Supreme Court's latest term ended with major decisions in two cases involving executive privilege: Trump v. Mazars USA, involving subpoenas from the House of Representatives; and Trump v. Vance, involving subpoenas from a New York district attorney. To discuss the history of executive privilege and modern developments, Adam White is joined by Mark Rozell, Dean of George Mason University's Schar School of Public Policy and Government, and co-author of the newly published fourth edition of "Executive Privilege: Presidential Power, Secrecy, and Accountability." Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/gray-matters/executive-privilege-a-discussion-with-dean-mark-rozell/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to Gray Matters in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

How should transformative technologies approach the administrative state, and vice versa? In his latest book, "Evasive Entrepreneurs & the Future of Governance," Adam Thierer of the Mercatus Center reports that tech companies are finding ways to outpace the regulators--and that this is a very good thing. In this episode, the Gray Center's director Adam White interviews Thierer about his book (and his previous book, "Permissionless Innovation"), with an eye to how high-tech companies and governments might help improve each other--for all of us. Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/gray-matters/evasive-entrepreneurs-innovation-and-the-administrative-state/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to Gray Matters in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.