Politicians and bureaucrats constantly say that all what the country needs is more regulations. But after a report found that regulations are costing the United States economy trillions of dollars, the main question is: how many more regulations would satisfy the appetite of statists?
According to a study by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, U.S. government regulations cost the American economy $4 trillion. In fact, these regulation are bigger than the economies of a lot of countries around the world, including Germany, the United Kingdom and India.
Researchers note that regulations have distorted investment choices that then create innovation and have produced a “considerable drag on the economy.” In addition, over the past several decades, regulations have cost each American worker around $13,000, and a 0.8 percent annual decline in the U.S. economy.
“If regulations had been held constant at levels observed in 1980, the American economy would have been 25 percent larger than it was in 2012,” the report said. “This amounts to a $4 trillion loss in 2012 for the American economy or $13,000 loss per person, a significant amount of money for most American workers.”
During the 2016 presidential election, there haven’t been any serious proposals to reduce many of these regulations. In fact, when you listen to the likes of Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, politicians want even more regulations. This is troubling.
Business Insider has an article outlining a few of the most bizarre regulations in place today:
- Philadelphia requires all bloggers to have a license.
- If you don’t have a tour guide license in D.C. then you could face 90 days in prison.
- Selling a pumpkin in Lake Elmo, Minnesota without a license? You could be slapped with a $1,000 fine.
- Even if you have a flair for interior design, you can’t call yourself one Texas without an education.
- Want to close down your business in Milwaukee? You need a license and pay plenty of fees.
Here is John Stossel talking about regulations in the U.S.:
what’s the impact without regulations? Toxic waste, unsafe water, larger burden on the health system, fraud from people conducting business without the appropriate background, costing consumers money, people buying food from someone with unsafe health practices, costing healthcare, etc.