Is federal regulation warranted as a coherent problem-solving strategy? This and other pertinent questions will be addressed in the pages of Hostile to Reason: Critical Examination of the Regulatory Imperative. Critical thinking-the desire to learn its essential elements as well as its applications has captured the imagination of many, and this number is growing by leaps and bounds. People want to know how to engage its principles and are fascinated by its applications. Because of its growing popularity, this book will use critical thinking principles to examine one of the most pressing socioeconomic issues of the day: federal regulation. Is federal regulation warranted as a coherent problem-solving strategy? In what situations is it useful, and in what situations is it not useful? From a critical thinking standpoint, does a singular solution to every emerging national problem make any sense? How and why did the Congress of the United States come up with a single regulatory mode, the authoritarian-punitive model, instead of a number of different models tailored to each particular situation? These and other pertinent questions will be addressed in the pages of this important book.