The Irony of Regulatory ReformDeregulation was a political buzzword of the early 1980's. The Reagan Administration came to power on a platform dedicated to getting the government off the backs of the people. Deregulation promised to lower inflation, raise productivity, and reverse the sagging fortunes of American industry. Proponents declared deregulation morally right because it constituted a rollback of the arbitrary power of the state in favor of individual initiative and