Crafting Smart Governance
Regulation and public policy encompasses the laws, regulations, and government actions that profoundly affect our daily lives—from the safety of our air, food, and water to the education our children receive to the quality of our healthcare to how our financial institutions function to how the benefits of economic growth are distributed. At NYU Law, 1Ls are required to take a specially designed course, Legislation and the Regulatory State, to get grounding in this diffuse and important area.
Our faculty pursue high-level scholarship that puts them at the forefront of shaping these fundamental policies. Lily Batchelder (on leave), whose research and teaching focuses on tax law and fiscal policy, served as deputy director of the National Economic Council and deputy assistant to President Obama. David Kamin ’09, whose scholarship centers on tax and budget policy, also worked in the administration, serving as special assistant to President Obama for economic policy at the White House. Rachel Barkow, whose scholarship focuses on applying the lessons and theory of administrative and constitutional law to the administration of criminal justice, is a member of the United States Sentencing Commission. Richard Revesz directs the Institute for Policy Integrity and has testified before Congress regarding environmental regulation. Catherine Sharkey has weighed in on agency accountability and serves in the Administrative Conference of the United States. Daniel Francis, a scholar of antitrust and regulation, served as deputy director of the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust arm and has testified before Congress on antitrust policy. And Ryan Bubb, who worked in the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory, has collaborated with Richard Pildes to write on behavioral economics’ nudge approach.
Meanwhile, Sally Katzen and Robert Bauer have, respectively, worked for the Office of Management and Budget, the National Economic Council, and the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs; and served as White House counsel under President Obama. Together they share their expertise with students through the Washington, DC-based Legislative Regulatory Process Clinic.
Students can also shape their careers through the Furman Public Policy Scholarship, the Root-Tilden-Kern Scholarship, and the full-tuition ASPIRE Scholarship among other opportunities.