Bruce Yandle
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Distinguished Adjunct Fellow
Bruce Yandle is a Distinguished Adjunct Fellow for the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. He specializes in public choice, regulation, and free-market environmentalism. Yandle frequently briefs Capitol Hill policymakers on economic issues and lectures regularly in Mercatus programs for House and Senate staffers.
In 1983, Yandle developed the “Bootleggers and Baptists” political model, in which opposite moral positions lead to the same vote. He argued that bootleggers, who benefit financially from blue laws regulating the sale of alcohol, give support to Baptists advocating the desired public policy, because “when the Baptists go away, the Bootleggers lose their territory.” His 2014 book Bootleggers and Baptists: How Economic Forces and Moral Persuasion Interact to Shape Regulatory Politics, coauthored with economist Adam Smith, explores this topic further.
Yandle is dean emeritus of the Clemson College of Business and Behavioral Sciences and was executive director of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and senior economist on the President’s Council on Wage and Price Stability.
Yandle received his PhD and MBA from Georgia State University and his BA from Mercer University.
The Legacy of Bruce Yandle, edited by Donald J. Boudreaux and Roger Meiners, was released in 2020 and includes original essays and reflections that pay tribute to Yandle for his unusual ability as a teacher and researcher. The volume concludes with an essay by Yandle himself, looking back on his career and the state of economics and policy making today and issuing a call to action for the next generation of scholars and teachers in political economy.
Latest Work
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Consumers Ignored by Labor and Posturing Pols | InsideSources
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Taking a Close Look at the Economic Situation: September 2023 | Groundbreak Carolinas
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Mercatus Policy Download Mercatus Policy Download
Dr. Bruce Yandle's September 2023 Economic Situation Report
- | Regulation Regulation
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
The Economic Situation, September 2023
- | Regulation Regulation
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Special Interests Go Unchecked | Tribune News Service
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Do Aging Politicians Help Explain the US Credit Rating Downgrade? | The Washington Examiner
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Stuck Behind an SUV? Blame Me. | Reason
Latest Work
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Consumers Ignored by Labor and Posturing Pols | InsideSources
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Taking a Close Look at the Economic Situation: September 2023 | Groundbreak Carolinas
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Mercatus Policy Download Mercatus Policy Download
Dr. Bruce Yandle's September 2023 Economic Situation Report
- | Regulation Regulation
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
The Economic Situation, September 2023
- | Regulation Regulation
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Special Interests Go Unchecked | Tribune News Service
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Do Aging Politicians Help Explain the US Credit Rating Downgrade? | The Washington Examiner
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Stuck Behind an SUV? Blame Me. | Reason
Latest Work
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
The Economic Situation, June 2019
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
The Economic Situation, March 2019
- | Regulation Regulation
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
The Economic Situation, December 2018
- | Regulation Regulation
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
The Economic Situation, June 2018
- | Journal Articles Journal Articles
Who Is the Forgotten Man (and Woman) on the Fiscal Commons?
- | Regulation Regulation
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
The Economic Situation, March 2018
- | Regulation Regulation
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
The Economic Situation, December 2017
- | Regulation Regulation
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
The Economic Situation, September 2017
- | Regulation Regulation
- | Policy Briefs Policy Briefs
The Economic Situation, June 2017
Latest Work
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
Brave New World?
- | Healthcare Healthcare
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
We Will Not Be Returning to the World We Left
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
Bruce Yandle on Employment, Growth, Trade, Uncertainty, and Impeachment
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
Dr. Bruce Yandle's March 2019 Economic Situation Report
- | F. A. Hayek Program F. A. Hayek Program
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Hayek Program Podcast Hayek Program Podcast
Reflecting on the Work of Bruce Yandle
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
A Quarterly Update from Dr. Bruce Yandle
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
The State of the Economy: Understanding 2016 with Bruce Yandle
- | International Freedom and Trade International Freedom and Trade
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
Bruce Yandle on the State of the Economy: Economic Growth at Last in Q3
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
The US Economy: Still in Low Gear
Latest Work
- | Regulation Regulation
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Special Interests Go Unchecked | Tribune News Service
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Do Aging Politicians Help Explain the US Credit Rating Downgrade? | The Washington Examiner
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Stuck Behind an SUV? Blame Me. | Reason
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Money Supply Predicted Inflation’s Fall. Who’s Actually Surprised? | The Washington Examiner
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
How Subsidizing Chips (And Everything Else) Became a Losing World Habit | InsideSources
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Student Debt Relief Effort Has Spurred Even More Borrowing | The Washington Examiner
- | Financial Markets Financial Markets
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary