• JD Student, The George Washington University, Senior Policy Analyst, The George Washington University Regulatory Studies Center

Laura Stanley is a JD student at The George Washington University. She also works as a Senior Policy Analyst at The George Washington University Regulatory Studies Center. She formerly worked as an economist at the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Laura earned an MA in economics from George Mason University and a BS in economics at James Madison University. Her research interests include law and economics, Austrian economics, public choice, regulatory analysis, environment/energy policy, and criminal justice. Laura was a Mercatus Center MA Fellow from 2013-2015.

Publications & Appearances

Economists in the Bureaucracy: A Question of Autonomy

Since the early 1980s, federal regulatory agencies have produced regulatory impact analyses (RIAs) for major regulations that include an estimate of the expected benefits and costs of the regulation. While observers have both praised and criticized benefit-cost analysis (BCA) since it first became part of the regulatory process, very few have examined the question of what determines the effectiveness of the economists producing the analysis. When do decision makers listen to the economists, and when are the economists ignored?

Regulation and Income Inequality: The Regressive Effects of Entry Regulations

A new study for the Mercatus Center at George Mason University examines the relationship between income inequality and the number of regulatory steps necessary to start a business. Looking at 175 countries and multiple variables, the study finds that there is a positive relationship between entry regulations and income inequality.

The Council on Wage and Price Stability: A Retrospective

Applying benefit-cost analysis in the White House regulatory oversight process served as a basic mission of the Council on Wage and Price Stability (CWPS) during its seven-year lifespan (1974–1981). This paper reviews that CWPS experience, which involved filing comments in over 300 proceedings at more than 25 federal regulatory agencies. The paper draws on those CWPS public comments (filings), identifying persistent and pervasive deficiencies in the economic analysis regulators then and now often use as support for new regulation. CWPS filings fostered greater acceptance of benefit-cost analysis in regulatory decisions; such analysis is now required by executive order.

The Council on Wage and Price Stability: A Retrospective

Applying benefit-cost analysis in the White House regulatory oversight process served as a basic mission of the Council on Wage and Price Stability (CWPS) during its seven-year lifespan (1974–1981). This paper reviews that CWPS experience, which involved filing comments in over 300 proceedings at more than 25 federal regulatory agencies.

The Legacy of the Council on Wage and Price Stability

Applying benefit-cost analysis in the White House regulatory oversight process served as a basic mission of the Council on Wage and Price Stability (CWPS) during its seven-year lifespan (1974–1981). This paper reviews that CWPS experience, which involved filing comments in over 300 proceedings at more than 25 federal regulatory agencies.