Public Utility Regulation: Some Economic and Moral Analyses

Abstract

This Essay analyzes various economic and moral issues that relate to the actual/alleged unregulated conduct of public-goods producers, public utilities, and "businesses affected with a public interest" (including businesses engaged in common callings and common carriers) as well as to government regulation of these categories of businesses. It begins by criticizing the conventional definitions of "public goods" and "public utilities" and explaining why, on its original definition, "businesses affected with a public interest" were not simply "businesses whose decisions affected the public interest."