Week 3 — September 21st: Cost-Benefit Analysis in Practice

Assignment:  In our third class, we turn to more practical issues regarding the application of cost benefit analysis.  We begin with a recent article by Professor Cass Sunstein, written shortly after he stepped down from the position of Director of OIRA.  You should read this article carefully. 

Also included in this week’s assignment are a number of key OIRA documents, several of which are mentioned in Professor Sunstein’s article and some of which were created after his departure from Washington, D.C.  You need only skim over these documents, but as you do, consider what approach to cost-benefit analysis is being advanced in these materials and Professor Sunstein’s writings.   The final reading for our third class is a recent note from the Harvard Law Review exploring the implication for financial regulators of recent judicial decisions touching upon cost-benefit analysis.