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Economics

The Politics of Regulatory Capture in Independent Agencies

Quick fact

Regulatory capture is so common that a term exists for the 'revolving door'—where regulators leave to work for the industries they once policed, or industry insiders take high-level agency posts. In the U.S., between 2000 and 2020, over half of former SEC commissioners went on to work for financial firms.

Why this is interesting

Agencies like the FCC and SEC are designed to watch over powerful industries—but what happens when the watchers become the watched?