On day one, President Trump surprised business leaders gathered at the White House, declaring US regulations ‘out of control’ and ‘in need of 75% or more reduction.’ A week later, he boldly signed an executive order requiring repeal of two old rules for every new one that government agencies implement.
The fact is that cutting regulations is as critical as tax relief in turning the US economy around. The two are the holy grail to repatriate a large part of the $2.5 trillion in offshore corporate capital, stimulate domestic investment, and create jobs – all central to ‘making America great again.’ And it’s economic growth and broadening the tax base that can – in the longer run – finance rebuilding US infrastructure and the military without adding to deficits and national debt.
The Federal Register records regulations are imposed on business. Its annual pages generally grow with every administration, with a 19% year over year increase in Obama’s last year – setting a record-breaking 95,000-plus pages. Professor Alan Dershowitz notes that, ‘today the average professional commits three felonies a day without realizing it, thanks to the complex layers of regulation and legal requirements that have been built up over time.’ The Small Business Administration estimates the compliance costs of regulations may be upward of $2 trillion a year – an enormous hidden tax nearly six times greater than the aggregate $350 billion in corporate tax revenue collected annually by the IRS in recent years.
This post was published at Ludwig von Mises Institute on February 20, 2017.
Follow on Twitter
Recent Comments