The latest Barron’s highlights an effort to quantify the impact of regulatory overgrowth on the American economy.
According to a forthcoming report by the Competitive Enterprise Institute called Tip of the Costberg, the cost of compliance with federal agency-written regulations stands at $1.806 trillion—and that’s just through the first half of this year. It’s the equivalent of 50% of the entire $3.6 trillion federal budget for all of fiscal 2012, which ends in September. …
… Though he commends efforts by the Obama administration to streamline some of the rules, [CEI vice president Wayne] Crews says the $10 billion in savings over five years that were identified by the executive branch are “puny” compared with the overall price tag. Indeed, SBA’s most recent estimate of the regulatory burden showed a 60% increase in costs from its previous tabulation.
North Carolina leaders have spent the past couple of years trying to address the problem of overregulation at the state level. The John Locke Foundation has offered some suggested reforms for lawmakers to pursue in 2013.
