The Texas Railroad Commission: Understanding Regulation in America to the Mid-Twentieth Century (Kenneth E. Montague Series in Oil and Business History): 17 - Hardcover

Childs, William R.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1585444529 ISBN 13: 9781585444526

Publisher: Texas A&M University Press, 2005

Synopsis

Before OPEC took center stage, one state agency in Texas was widely believed to set oil prices for the world. The Texas Railroad Commission (TRC) evolved from its founding in 1891 to a multi-divisional regulatory commission that oversaw not only railroads but also a number of other industries central to the modern American economy: petroleum production, natural gas utilities, and motor carriers. William R. Childs's unprecedented study of the TRC from its founding until the mid-twentieth century focuses on the interplay between business and regulators, between state and national regulatory commissions, and among the three branches of government through a process of ""pragmatic federalism."" Childs demonstrates that the myth of TRC's power was devised by the agency itself as part of building a civil religion of Texas oil. Together, the myth and the civil religion enabled the TRC to convince Texas oil operators to follow production controls and thus stabilized the American oil industry by the 1940s. The result of this fascinating study is a more nuanced understanding of regulation in a federal system, the forces shaping it, and its outcomes.

About this title

Review:

known regulatory commission through the 1930s. - Christopher Castaneda, California State University - Sacramento

About the Author:

WILLIAM R. CHILDS is an associate professor of history at Ohio State University. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin.

About this edition

• Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1585444529
• ISBN 13: 9781585444526
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 416