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To those who study or work in government regulation of business, the Federal Trade Commission has been of intense interest since 1969. Regarded before 1969 as dormant and ineffective, the FTC has become widely viewed as a major agency focusing on problems that affect most American consumers and businesses. This book, the work of Contributors under the editorship of Kenneth W. Clarkson and Timothy J. Muris, is a comprehensive attempt to analyse the 'revitalized' FTC

Finding that much of state regulation of occupations restricts entry into the market and thereby limits the choices that consumers can make for themselves, the authors examine FTC efforts to change this regulation. The authors consider the Commission itself, the Congress, and the courts to analyze the likely outcome of the FTC's efforts. Because the FTC has had a long history of hostility toward market forces, the authors find the agency likely to impose some new rules upon occupations. After arguing that Congress' power to control FTC action is ineffective, absent the rare situation of a hostile political environment, the authors state that a "new administrative law" is developing that provides increased judicial scrutiny of agency rulemaking. This more stringent judicial review makes deregulation easier because it facilitates removal of licensure programs and makes imposition of new regulation more difficult. The authors urge that the courts end anti-consumer rulemaking by requiring that the. benefits from actions mandated by agency rules exceed their costs, thereby achieving the actual goal of the FTC: bettering the welfare of the consumer.

Some measurement biases that have arisen in computing unemployment rates in recent years are investigated. Current measures of unemployment are no longer consistent with the traditional definition of unemployment. Since the unemployment rate is often used as a basis for policy decisions, it is important to distinguish between the effects due to the new institutional requirements & those attributable to the more traditional reasons for identifying individuals as unemployed. The work registration requirements instituted by Congress in the early 1970s are examined. Using US Dept of Labor statistics, the impact on employment of the registration requirements for food stamp & Aid to Families with Dependent Children recipients is measured. Their estimated corrections indicate that the unemployment rate has been inflated by approximately 2% in recent years.