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Chapter 3Heading Down the Highway

On a straight but undulating road, you don't concentrate on the next brow, but the one after that, and anything in between you will (or should) have taken account of long before you reach it.

—Michael Costin (auto racing engineer), describing the racing state of mind, Trackrod Motor Club Newsletter, Dec. 1973

The Layout

The US government formed administrative agencies to regulate commercial activity in the late 1800s, with the creation of the Interstate Commerce Commission. Applying powers delegated by Congress, these agencies publish rules and regulations; determine whether laws, rules, or regulations have been broken in particular cases; and impose fines and other sanctions on transgressors.

To perform these functions, Congress has conferred upon these agencies both quasi-legislative and quasi-judicial powers. They can issue licenses, set rates, and shape or even outlaw business practices.

Some agencies are federal executive departments, like, say, the Department of Transportation or Department of Agriculture. Other agencies exist outside the executive departments. The latter are referred to as independent agencies, because they report to both legislative and executive branches of government and the president's power to dismiss the agency head or its commissioners is limited. This independent structure insulates the agency from the political winds that sweep over Washington. The best-known independent agencies are probably the Federal ...