Deregulation: Looking Backward and Looking Forward

Abstract

We have a surfeit of deregulatory anniversaries to celebrate or deplore: it is now more than thirty years since the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) authorized substantial competition in long-distance communications, more than eleven since we deregulated the airlines, and almost ten years since we did substantially the same to the railroad and trucking industries. Can we, by examining this long and varied experience with deregulation, draw any conclusions about the likelihood and desirability of its continuation in the decade ahead?