If you want to create jobs in North Carolina and the United States, you can pursue questionable gimmicks. Or you can pursue legitimate ideas such as regulatory reform, as Becky Quick discusses in the latest issue of Fortune.
Regulatory overload is a frequent complaint of business leaders. And while it may be an overused excuse, the business leaders have plenty of legitimate points. The big bills passed recently — from Dodd-Frank regulations governing the financial sector to the President’s health care plan — all hamper their ability to forecast future costs, and that in turn can keep them from making commitments to bring on additional workers. [Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad CEO Matt] Rose recommends putting all new regulations on hiatus until Congress determines the employment impact of additional rules. And he’d put a “shot clock” on regulatory agencies when it comes to issuing permits for projects. Some regulatory reviews, he says, can slow down projects by seven to 10 years. “Not that we have to be like China and issue a permit for something in an hour, but we can’t allow any extremist to use any law to prevent projects from going ahead,” Rose says.
