U.S. Regulatory Costs Are Now Bigger Than Canada's Entire Economy

Investor's Business Daily ^ | 04/29/2014 | John Merline

[IBD editorial writer]

After years of rapid growth during the Obama administration, the cost of federal regulations is now bigger than the entire economies of all but nine countries in the world.

That's according to the latest annual report on the regulatory state issued by the free-market Competitive Enterprise Institute, titled "Ten Thousand Commandments."

Compiling reports of compliance costs from various government agencies and outside sources, author Clyde Wayne Crews found that the "regulation tax" imposed on the economy now tops $1.86 trillion.

By comparison, Canada's entire GDP is $1.82 trillion. India's is $1.84 trillion.

The problem, Crews notes, is that the combined cost of this "tax" never shows up anywhere in the federal budget — or any other official report — even though it is now bigger than individual and corporate income taxes combined.

[TurboZamboni]

yeah, but we get to feel smug about our light bulbs.

so we’ve got that going for us.

[danamco]

Is that the reason that we sent our representatives to Washington D.C. = District of Corruption???

Instead of really represent us, they are lining their pockets with GOLD themselves!!!

[C. Edmund Wright]

Okay, let’s have the china phobes still say that it is the fault of greedy businesses and trade policies that we don’t have some of the mfg we used to have. That is, if they would bother to read this…..

[SoFloFreeper]

Money quote from the article:

On a per-household basis, federal regulatory costs average $14,974, which is more than the typical household spends on just about anything else. When regulatory costs are combined with federal spending, Washington's share of the economy rises to an eye-popping 31%.

[Mouton]

Any organization that is dying becomes a process rather than an outcome organization as much to protect the entrenched as to document what it is doing. Our republic is no different. I see it in a social organization I am in, as membership is drifting away we have a handful of new policies and programs to attract members all requiring some “report” of how well we are doing to reach a goal.

[C. Edmund Wright]

you’ve just described death by bureaucrat…..the nauseating sclerosis of the bureaucratic state.

[SIRTRIS]

Not too far around the corner, pretend to work & pretend to get paid. The communist joke during glorious communist era.

[wideawake]

Tort law.

[umgud]

Can you name the four branches of government?

How about;

Executive
Legislative
Judicial
Regulatory

[oldtech]

As bad as it is now,they still sit around dreaming up new regulations. Is this not the very definition of insanity?