News Release

February 28, 2003

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New Book on Technology vs. Market Failure Asks: Does Technology Eliminate the Case for Government Regulation?

In The Half-Life of Policy Rationales: How New Technology Affects Old Policy Issues (New York University Press, co-published with the Cato Institute), contributors argue that the appropriateness of government regulatory intervention depends on the state of technology. As technology advances, the justifications for many long-standing, conventional regulatory interventions dissolve. As new technologies overcome supposed market failures, the role government must play in such matters as air pollution and environmental protection, consumer health and safety, and utility regulation is reduced.

For example, through developments such as new sensors for auto emissions; smart-tolls for highways; electronic meters for parking; and quality assurance in medicine, banking and online commerce, the private sector is addressing quality and safety in ways that exceed the capabilities of governmental regulation. As for public utilities, new means of producing and delivering electricity, water, postal, and telephone services break down the natural-monopoly rationales for government oversight.

This volume, edited by Fred E. Foldvary and Daniel B. Klein, includes essays on consumer product safety, banking, medical licensing, water delivery markets, marine resources, highways, parking, auto emissions, postal service, endangered species, and an essay on electricity regulation co-written by Cato's director of technology policy, Clyde Wayne Crews Jr. The Half-Life of Policy Rationales will be of interest to readers in public policy, technology, property rights, and economics.