General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: 1972 Democratic Party Platform is so progressive as to be off the scale today [View all]andym
(6,062 posts)After Nixon left office, the Gerald Ford presidency, with the allied interests, secured passage of the first significant change in regulatory policy in a pro-competitive direction, in the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976. President Jimmy Carter devoted substantial effort to transportation deregulation, and worked with Congressional and civil society leaders to pass the Airline Deregulation Act (October 24, 1978), Staggers Rail Act (signed October 14, 1980), and the Motor Carrier Act of 1980 (signed July 1, 1980).
wikipedia
He also deregulated the oil industry but not as much as Reagan.
"Carter signed his first energy package into law on November 9, 1978. The deregulation of oil and natural gas prices that resulted would lead to a vast increase in the supply of energy in the 1980s, and consequently a lowering of prices."
http://millercenter.org/president/biography/carter-domestic-affairs
But it was the free market approach that Reagan would expand on.