CRE has been asked to respond to recent statements that claim that a handful of Presidents- Nixon, Carter and Reagan- are not the primary sponsors of centralized regulatory review; instead they claim that centralized regulatory review is the result of the work of a number of Administrations going back to at least the Roosevelt Administration.
If one defines “centralized regulatory review” as:
1. Performing benefit-cost analyses of proposed regulations, and
2. OMB review of the aforementioned benefit-cost analysis
then the Nixon, Carter and Reagan Administrations are most certainly the driving forces.
What is surprising is the complete lack of knowledge of the history of OIRA by the majority of its former and present employees. Furthermore not only are many of the former and current OIRA employees ignorant of its origin but most of them do not even care about its history. If you are in doubt ask any of the aforementioned individuals the most basic questions about OIRA’s history and the absence of any meaningful response will explain the reason for the disheartening statement set forth in the opening sentence above.
Employment at OIRA is a very sought after position; in particular it is a golden launch for employment in virtually any federal agency as well as many private sector firms and universities. The incumbents of such a gift ought to show some interest in perpetuating the organization that provides them with this enviable route to professional success.
Relevant Libraries Regarding The Initiation, Development and Operation of OIRA
What follows are thousands of pages on OIRA and if any readers find one mention of its linkage to the New Deal CRE should be notified.
+/- 500 journal articles at or around OIRA’s emergence[At the very minimum some 5,000 pages on OIRA].
Consideration should be given to launching OIRA 101, an educational course dedicated to the emergence of OIRA as a permanent and statutorily based component of the Presidency. Ideally the resultant course would be taught jointly by professors with a background in economics, public policy and law.
