This book contains a series of papers commissioned for the Economics of Regulation and Deregulation Conference held at the University of Lethbridge from September 21 to 23, 1989.

Breaking the Shackles begins with an outline of the deregulatory program and a summary of the important theories of regulation. It then identifies progress in rail and truck transportation, incomplete but valuable deregulation in the airline industry, modest improvements in telecommunications, and substantial progress in the oil and gas industry. However, the book also reveals that the deregulatory process has barely begun in agriculture. Another chapter focuses on the financial services sector whish is hampered by a confused and potentially damaging regulatory situation.

Finally, the book examines rent control. Because this law attenuates the property rights of landlords, it destroys incentives for maintaining and adding to the existing housing stock. This study concludes that the rental housing market, particularly in Ontario, seems to have entered a rigid and permanent regulatory regime.