UPDATE: Frank Partnoy, Professor of Law at the University of San Diego School of Law and author of Infectious Greed: How Deceit and Risk Corrupted the Financial Markets; The Match King: Ivan Kreuger, The Financial Genius Behind a Century of Wall Street Scandals; and F.I.A.S.C.O: Blood in the Water on Wall Street, will give a lunchtime talk on Friday. See a recent interview with Professor Partnoy on the Daily Show (link to video).
In the wake of the financial crisis and the Great Recession, many are rethinking the role of regulation and the tools available to regulators. This symposium will re-think regulation by focusing on cost-benefit analysis. Understanding the benefits and pitfalls of cost-benefit analysis is particularly important now, given the potentially increasing role of cost-benefit analysis in regulation. For instance, the recently proposed Independent Agency Regulatory Analysis Act could require independent agencies to conduct cost-benefit analysis to justify regulations.
We hope this symposium will contribute to a better understanding of cost-benefit analysis, while also shedding light on broader questions about regulation. For example, does cost-benefit analysis facilitate or inhibit regulation? Does it raise similar concerns to those raised about overreliance on quantitative modeling?
The symposium will begin with a panel that will look at cost-benefit analysis from various theoretical perspectives. Panels will then evaluate cost-benefit analysis in particular sectors, such as environmental and financial regulation.
