Are We Ailing from Too Much Deregulation?

"Many journalists claim that the U.S. economy since the late 1970s has been very free, with little regulation; that this absence of regulation has caused markets to fail." In this Cato Institute article, David R. Henderson makes the case that, "on all these counts, the reports are false," and that just the opposite is true. Specifically, that "(1) we have not had a period of light regulation, (2) deregulation didn't fail, and (3) regulation makes things worse."

Whichever side you come down on, it's fascinating reading (although, I'm sure, not as fascinating as the "Twilight" series!).

As background notes:

(1) David R. Henderson is a research fellow with the Hoover Institution and an associate professor of economics at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. He was previously the senior economist for energy policy and health policy with President Reagan's Council of Economic Advisers. He is the editor of The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics.
(2) Wikipedia describes the Cato Institute as follows: "The Cato Institute is a libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. The Institute's stated mission is "to broaden the parameters of public policy debate to allow consideration of the traditional American principles of limited government, individual liberty, free markets, and peace" by striving 'to achieve greater involvement of the intelligent, lay public in questions of (public) policy and the proper role of government.' "