Regulation Nation
“Regulations do have costs; often, as a country, we have to make tough decisions about whether those costs are necessary.”
—President Obama, Wall Street Journal op-ed, January 18, 2011
Research says more red tape = less economic growth
Last week’s Regulation Nation referenced a March 2012 working paper from economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis who wrote that “there is direct evidence in higher annual costs of firms for compliance with federal regulations, rising expenditures of federal regulatory agencies, and rising employment of federal regulatory agencies” (emphasis added) demonstrating the failed economic policies of the Obama administration.
- Figure 14 from that paper shows “the number of [full-time workers] in regulatory activities relative to the population is close to 15 percent above its 2004 level. In contrast, the ratio of [full-time workers] to population in the government sector is below trend, and in the overall economy, the ratio is well below trend.”
- To recall, one of the paper’s conclusions: “We interpret higher regulatory costs to businesses as a key factor for lower [total factor productivity].” (economist-speak for a measure that relates an economy’s output with long-term technological change—so, lower TFP means less economic dynamism)
House Republicans have a Plan for America’s Job Creators—it’s time for the President and Senate Democrats to stop blocking our bipartisan jobs bills. More info in the “Win the Debate” kit—“Cutting Red Tape to Create Jobs”—can be found here.
For additional information, contact:
The House Republican Conference Policy Office
