Publications

Airlines

1/26/24

How to Fix Flying: A New Approach to Regulating the Airline Industry

Paper

William McGee and Ganesh Sitaraman provide policymakers with concrete proposals to regulate the airline industry. From geographic access to passenger safety and beyond, the authors offer wide-ranging policy options to improve air travel.

Read the Paper
11/14/23

Why Airlines Don’t Fly to Your City and Other Problems Washington Caused

Oped

Ganesh Sitaraman discusses the history of airline deregulation and offers policy solutions in an oped for Politico.

Read the Oped
11/14/23

When air travel featured piano bars and champagne

Oped

Ganesh Sitaraman discusses how deregulation has affected air travel since the 1970s in an oped for CNN.

Read the Oped
9/21/23

Airlines Are Just Banks Now

Oped

Ganesh Sitaraman argues that frustrating mileage programs are a symptom of airline deregulation in an oped for The Atlantic.

Read the Newsletter
11/14/23

Why Flying is Miserable

Book

In this book, Ganesh Sitaraman argues that reforms are needed to fix the concentrated airline industry and low-quality air service that American travelers deal with today. Tracing the industry’s problems back to airline deregulation in 1978, Sitaraman proposes new ideas for airline policy that prioritize access, stability, and fair pricing. (Columbia Global Reports, 2023)

Read the Book

Banks as Public Utilities

9/14/23

Rebuilding Banking Law: Banks as Public Utilities

Paper

Under the New Deal framework for money and payments—which had its roots in the National Bank Act of 1864—banks in the United States were governed in many respects as public utilities. Unfortunately, policymakers have steadily undermined and degraded key elements of this system and now its logic has been largely forgotten. This paper proposes a blueprint for reform, a New National Banking system.

Read the Paper
9/14/23

A Ten-Point Plan for Making Banking a Public Utility

Policy Brief

It is time for Congress to modernize American banking regulation by building on what worked in the past—a public utility approach.

Read the Brief
9/14/23

Make Banks Public Utilities

Oped

Morgan Ricks and Lev Menand discuss banks as public utilities in an oped for the Washington Post.

Read the Oped

Governing Artificial Intelligence

9/29/24

The National Security Case for Public AI

Paper

Ganesh Sitaraman and Alex Pascal make the case that public options for AI and public utility-style regulation of AI will enhance national security by ensuring innovation and competition, preventing abuses of power and conflicts of interest, and advancing public interest and national security goals.

Read the Paper
9/29/24

Creating a Public Cloud through the Defense Production Act

Paper

Joel Dodge argues that the executive branch can use the Defense Production Act (DPA) to acquire essential hardware inputs for building public cloud infrastructure.

Read the Paper
2/21/24

Promoting Competition in Federal AI Procurement

Paper

VPA offers policy solutions for promoting competition in federal AI procurement, and how to implement them.

Read the Paper
10/10/23

An Antimonopoly Approach to Governing AI

Paper

A close look at the AI tech stack reveals that critical layers are likely to be or already are monopolistic or oligopolistic. Authors offer a way forward.

Read the Paper
10/10/23

Antimonopoly Tools for Regulating AI

Policy Brief

VPA offers policymakers antimonopoly tools for regulating AI, including industrial policy, public utility regulations, and a public option for AI.

Read the Brief
10/10/23

Building Public Capacity on Artificial Intelligence

Paper

Authors offer two proposals to build public capacity on AI: a new U.S. Artificial Intelligence Service, and a broader U.S. Technology Administration. 

Read the Paper
10/10/23

AI Polling Report

Polling Report

New polling commissioned by VPA reveals that Americans are deeply concerned about the concentration of power in the AI industry and support antimonopoly regulations and building public AI capacity.

Read the Polling Report
3/13/24

How States Can Keep Big Tech from Dominating AI

Oped

Ganesh Sitaraman and Natalie Foster address how policymakers can address concentration in the AI "tech stack" in an oped for Politico.

Read the Oped
1/15/24

It’s Time for the Government to Regulate AI. Here’s How.

Oped

Ganesh Sitaraman and Tejas N. Narechania present a classic argument for regulating AI in an oped for Politico.

Read the Oped
10/10/23

The Government Can 'Get It Right' on AI

Oped

Ganesh Sitaraman and Ramsay Eyre make the case for building public capacity on AI in an oped in Politico.

Read the Oped

Grocery Stores

3/18/24

Public Grocery Stores: A Guide for Policymakers

VPA's new Guide discusses the problem of food deserts, the benefits of public grocery stores, case studies from around the country, and practical considerations in implementing public grocery stores.

Read the Paper

Vanderbilt Law School

Work With Us

Join our team of scholars, policy experts, and students working on cutting-edge issues in political economy and regulation.

View & Apply for Our Current Job Openings

Stay Informed

Sign up to receive our emails and news updates