How has government grown? What political and economic factors have given rise to its regulation of the economy? These eight case studies explore the late-19th-and early 20th-century origins of government intervention in the United States economy, focusing on the political influence of special interest groups in the development of economic regulation.

The Regulated Economy examines how constituent groups emerged and demanded government action to solve perceived economic problems, such as exorbitant railroad and utility rates, bank failure, falling agricultural prices, the immigration of low-skilled workers, workplace injury, and the financing of government.