Administrative Agency Obsolescence and Interest Group Formation: A Case Study of the SEC at Sixty

Abstract

This Article does not attempt to add to the rich literature on statutory obsolescence. Rather, its goal is to observe that the twentieth century has witnessed the birth of another phenomenon-the modem administrative agency-whose existence presents problems of obsolescence and irrelevance even more profound than the problems posed by the existence of outdated statutes. The problem with agencies is basically the same as with statutes: what happens when technological change, market processes, or other exogenous variables cause the basic purposes of an administrative agency to cease to be relevant from the perspective of the public policies that originally led to the creation of the agency?