Regulation

In June, the National Labor Relations Board issued proposed rules to modernize and streamline the process by which a union can be certified to represent a group of workers. The hearing and comment period on those rules — which generated extensive activity especially on the employer side — just ended. What questions are raised by the arguments that have been made?

A new series that examines recurring patterns of regulatory failure across industries, and across administrations. Part 1 looks at the FDA and the cosmetics industry: under-regulated for over 30 years.

No, not about private indiscretions. Just about what sort of leadership the widely-hailed governor is or is not exerting when it comes to the fate of the homes of more than a million families.

Faced with evidence of the ineffectiveness of its foreclosure prevention efforts, the Administration shrugs its shoulders and says it has "limited levers." The limitations are not a necessary fact of life, but a function of the view that forcing financial institutions to modify mortgages would be an affront to the dignity and sovereignty of banks.

Did you miss this? Republicans say they’re trying to stop the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from doing anything to jeopardize financial safety-and-soundness. Consumer advocates say that’s code language for the fear of something new in the financial world: independent oversight.

The preemptive campaign to rein in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Concern about "safety and soundness" or about the prospect of independent regulation?

The preemptive campaign to rein in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Concern about "safety and soundness" or about the prospect of independent regulation?

Critics question why the SEC is announcing a re-examination of small business regulation when parts of the reform effort are incomplete, in some cases due to limited resources.

Claims that investment is paralyzed because businesses are uncertain as to what regulations are coming down the pike turn out not to be backed by specifics.

It’s a lamentably old sport, says the agency’s two-time leader, who occasionally dares to dream about a more constructive relationship between Congress and federal rule-makers.