Ten Thousand Commandments

[Tigermike 3,426]

One issue that should be getting more attention is the cost of the powers government exercises to regulate. The Competitive Enterprise Institute has just issued a study that does exactly that – study the cost of the regulatory state and the impact it has on our economic viability.

If you are surprised you shouldn’t be. Did you know that regulation is up and so is its cost (per the report, the cost of regulatory compliance in this country is about $1.75 trillion):

Among the report’s findings:

* The Federal Register stands at an all-time record-high 81,405 pages.

* In 2010, federal agencies issued 3,573 final rules.

* While agencies issued 3,573 final rules, Congress passed and the president signed into law a comparatively “few” 217 bills. Considerable lawmaking power is delegated to unelected bureaucrats at agencies, an abuse addressed recently in proposals such as the REINS Act.

* Alarmingly, proposed rules in the Federal Register have surged from 2,044 in 2009 to 2,439 in 2010, a jump of 19.3 percent.

* Of the 4,225 rules now in the regulatory pipeline, 224 are “economically significant” meaning they wield at least $100 million in economic impact—this is an increase of 22 percent over 2009’s 184 rules.

* Given 2010’s government spending (outlays) of $3.456 trillion, the regulatory “hidden tax” of $1.75 trillion stands at an unprecedented 50.7 percent of the level of federal spending itself.

* Regulatory costs exceed all 2008 corporate pretax profits of $1.463 trillion.

* Regulatory costs dwarf corporate income taxes of $157 billion.

* Regulatory costs tower over the estimated 2010 individual income taxes of $936 billion by 87 percent—nearly double the level.

* 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.

The report urges reforms to make the regulatory costs more transparent and accountable to the people, including annual “report cards” on regulatory costs and benefits, and congressional votes on significant agency rules before they become binding.

El Linko

Not only do we need to get government spending under control, we most assuredly need to get the regulatory state under control as both spending and over regulation are eating up increasingly large chuncks of our GDP.