Deregulatory Takings and the Regulatory Contract

This 1998 book addresses deregulatory policies that threaten to reduce or destroy the value of private property in network industries without any accompanying payment of just compensation, policies that are termed 'deregulatory takings'. The authors further consider the problem of renegotiation of the regulatory contract, which changes the terms and conditions of operation of utility companies. They argue that constitutional protections of private property from takings, as well as efficient remedies for contractual breach, provide the proper foundation for the competitive transformation of the network industries. The benefits of competition do not stem from government regulations that redistribute income from utility investors to customers, nor do such benefits stem from regulatory policies for network access that promote free riding on incumbent facilities by entrants. Such actions represent a new version of increased regulation, not deregulation.

"Sidak and Spulber offer not only a profitable eye-opener of how deregulation of government-sponsored monopolies is a 'taking' of private property from the investors in those firms, but also a well-written analysis of the economics of networking in the modern economy. Every investor in the telecommunications industry would profit from their analysis." Armen A. Alchian, Professor Emeritus, University of California, Los Angeles, "This excellent and significant book addresses the means of achieving a more competitive economy through extensive deregulation without simultaneously destroying the foundations of a competitive economy: contract and property rights. Everyone knows in theory that all citizens benefit both from greater competition and secure contract and property rights. This important book explains how in practice these two objectives can best be achieved. All citizens interested in the social control of industrial enterprise in today's world should read this book." George L. Priest, John M. Olin Professor of Law and Economics, Yale Law School, "This excellent and significant book addresses the means of achieving a more competitive economy through extensive deregulation without simultaneously destroying the foundations of a competitive economy: contract and property rights. Everyone knows in theory that all citizens benefit both from greater competition and secure contract and property rights. This important book explains how in practice these two objectives can best be achieved. All citizens interested in the social control of industrial enterprise in today's world should read this book." George L. Priest, John M. Olin Professor of Law and Economics, Yale Law School, "Sidak and Spulber offer not only a profitable eye-opener of how deregulation of government-sponsored monopolies is a 'taking' of private property from the investors in those firms, but also a well-written analysis of the economics of networking in the modern economy. Every investor in the telecommunications industry would profit from their analysis." Armen A. Alchian, Professor Emeritus, University of California, Los Angeles, "Sidak and Spulber have written the first comprehensive analysis of a subject that is as important as it is arcane. Their masterful book analyzes both the legal and economic sides of the issue, with unmatched sophistication and depth, from the perspective of those whose networks have become the immediate targets of regulatory deconstruction. The book will likely remain the definitive work on the subject for years to come. Sidak and Spulber have defined the contours of a debate that is likely to redefine the nature of property, and the limits to its regulation, in the networked economy of cyberspace." Peter W. Huber, Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute; author, Law and Disorder in Cyberspace (Oxford University Press 1997)