A growing body of experience shows that well-planned and properly implemented regulatory reform that stimulates competition in domestic and international markets can raise productivity, lower prices and expand the range of goods and services available to consumers. Yet reform does not mean complete laissez-faire: regulations will continue to be important tools for setting the rules of the game by which markets function, and for improving safety, protecting the environment, and upholding social values such as equity. Here, governments are finding new means, both regulatory and other, of providing sound social protections while allowing markets to work more efficiently.