Regulation costs 1.7 trillion

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kiryan
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Regulation costs 1.7 trillion

Postby kiryan » Wed Apr 20, 2011 6:53 pm

http://dailycaller.com/2011/04/19/the-h ... -trillion/

Wayne Crews, vice president for policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, combed through the 81,405 pages of the Federal Registry — which contains the nation’s regulations on businesses, and state and local governments — and cites a report showing that regulation cost the economy a whopping $1.75 trillion in 2008.

“If regulatory costs remain largely hidden from public view, regulating will become increasingly attractive compared with increasingly unpopular taxing and spending,” Crews writes. “Rather than pay directly and book expenses for new initiatives, the federal government can require the private sector — as well as state and local governments — to pay for federal initiatives through compliance costs.”

• Regulatory costs of $1.75 trillion absorb 11.9 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), estimated at $14.649 trillion in 2010.

• Combining regulatory costs with federal FY 2010 outlays of $3.456 trillion reveals a federal government whose share of the entire economy now reaches 35.5 percent.

== Are these numbers legit? I mean isn't a lot of the cost of regulatory compliance in the public workers (paid for by taxes already)? or are they just talking about the private costs of preparing and filing all the reports certifying all the products paying all the fees... Are they including the deductions you can take for all the fees and "expenses" of running your business? Seems that could reduce the 1.75 trillion by 30%.
kiryan
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Re: Regulation costs 1.7 trillion

Postby kiryan » Wed Jun 08, 2011 4:37 pm

600k for a taxi license. No wonder you guys are so damn expensive.

This article puts an anti poor / racial discrimination spin on regulation.

The final quote is perfect. "This is not what America was supposed to be." Not supposed to be a place where you have to ask permission and pay/engage the government to work or live (healthcare law)...

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/06/ ... -business/

"Compare New York City, where a license to own and operate a taxi is $603,000, to Washington, D.C.," George Mason University economist Walter Williams said on my Fox Business show last week. "There are not many black-owned taxis in New York City. But in Washington, most are owned by blacks." Why? Because in Washington, "it takes $200 to get a license to own and operate one taxi. That makes the difference."

Ask Jestina Clayton. Ten years ago, she moved from Africa to Utah. She assumed she could support her children with the hair-braiding skills she learned in Sierra Leone. For four years, she braided hair in her home. She made decent money. But then the government shut her down because she doesn't have an expensive cosmetology license that requires 2,000 hours of classroom time -- 50 weeks of useless instruction. The Institute for Justice, the public-interest law firm that fights such outrages, says "not one of those 2,000 hours teaches African hair-braiding."

Once upon a time, one in 20 workers needed government permission to work in their occupation. Today, it's one in three. We lose some freedom every day.

"Occupational licensing laws fall hardest on minorities, on poor, on elderly workers who want to start a new career or change careers," Avelar said. "(Licensing laws) just help entrenched businesses keep out competition."

This is not what America was supposed to be.
Corth
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Re: Regulation costs 1.7 trillion

Postby Corth » Wed Jun 08, 2011 4:45 pm

I'll save Sarvis the trouble and put the counter-argument out there. Compliance with regulation costs $1.7 trillion, but wouldn't the societal cost be much greater if that regulation wasn't there to protect people, the environment, etc etc.

As for NYC taxi's I'm not sure if you could really consider that 'regulation'. The city auctions off a certain number of taxi medallions (licenses) every so often. It's a revenue matter - there are a limited supply of taxi licenses, and people compete with each other in order to buy them.
Having said all that, the situation has been handled, so this thread is pretty much at an end. -Kossuth

Goddamned slippery mage.
kiryan
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Re: Regulation costs 1.7 trillion

Postby kiryan » Wed Jun 08, 2011 4:59 pm

fair point about the cost of regulation equaling the cost of not having it.

however, i'll still argue its basically a tax (raises the cost of taxi licenses) or simply a protection racket.

It was interesting to watch how wind energy became a valuable commodity and government was right there to step in and develop permits... to make sure they got a cut of people developing this new resource.
Teflor Lyorian
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Re: Regulation costs 1.7 trillion

Postby Teflor Lyorian » Thu Jun 09, 2011 12:46 am

Fees are taxes.
"You see, the devil haunts a hungry man.
If you don’t wanna join him, you got to beat him."
- Kris Kristofferson (To Beat the Devil)

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