Works
Modern Weights and Measures Regulation in the United States: A Brief History
This book provides a concise history of weights and measures regulation in the United States from the early Twentieth Century up to the present day. It is written for academic and professional readers. There is a chapter on basic terms and concepts and a glossary is included at the back of the book. Other chapters discuss the origins and history of weights and measures laws and regulations; the economics of weights and measures regulation; key enforcement cases; landmark legal decisions; the effects of public policy; and a forecast on the future of weights and measures regulation. A new 2019 survey of state weights and measures regulatory programs is included. A chapter discusses a case study of the weights and measures regulatory program in Seattle, Washington. This is the only book on weights and measures regulation from the perspective of a long-time weights and measures regulatory official.
Transportation Network Companies and Taxis: The Case of Seattle
This book is a case study of the impact of market disruption by the Transportation Network Company (TNC) - e.g., Uber, Lyft - on the taxicab industry in Seattle and King County. The study examines what happened, why it happened and predicts what will happen in the future. The taxicab industry lost approximately 55% of its business (revenue trips) to the TNC industry but has recently begun a modest recovery. The TNC industry engaged in a price war (charging approximately one-half taximeter rates) to drive the the taxicab industry out of the market but it has failed. The TNC industry has never been profitable and is now experiencing a declining rate of growth which may reach zero growth in 2020. Unless it comes up with a new business model, the TNC industry may itself go out of business.
[Note: This book was completed before the COVID-19 pandemic. A future companion volume is planned to examine the period 2019 to the present.]