The Interstate Commerce Commission, established in 1887 as the first federal regulatory agency in American history, was created to tame the railroad monopolies that were crushing farmers, small businesses, and entire communities under predatory pricing schemes. Over the course of its 108-year existence, the ICC transformed from a bold experiment in government regulation into a cautionary tale about how regulatory agencies can be captured by the very industries they were designed to control, before finally being abolished in 1995. The railroads of the Gilded Age wielded power that modern Americans can barely imagine. They controlled the only practical means of long-distance transportation, giving them life-and-death authority over entire towns and regions. Railroads charged whatever the market would bear, offering secret rebates to favored shippers  ...