CAN WE PREVENT GOVERNMENT FROM DEPRESSING ECONOMIC ACTIVITY?
Ask any businessperson about compliance with Government rules and costs; and they will most likely go into a diatribe about useless unnecessary spending and headaches that serve no purpose. At least no purpose that helps their business prosperity. Yes, we have Government rules about almost everything to do with commerce.
The fact is we need Government rules. The FAA has rules and compliance around airplanes and flying for good reason. No one wants to be struck by a homemade ill engineered flying object. The same goes for most of The EPA rules; otherwise, raw sewage and everything else would get dumped into water we need for drinking. The IRS has rules and compliance that the government needs to collect taxes. You cannot run a defense department on air. Government must have money to provide services the public demands.
The friction comes when bureaucracies that are not elected continue to make rules for citizens to comply with; and year after year stack on new rule after new rule. They make rules around supposed mandates Congress has given them. Government agency rules do not expire. They should at some point. Everything is constantly evolving in our world. If I were to list all the differences between how business is done now compared to the 1970’s it would be as big as an unabridged dictionary. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is just in its infancy. 10 years from now, there will be many things we cannot even imagine that will change.
There is no enemy here. Employees of these Government agencies making the rules are honestly doing what they feel is their job. Elected officials love having political cover that agencies in charge provide. Congress has over the years let this power transfer happen. The Executive Branch has gained power and has increasingly used it to push political agendas through agency rule making.
The OMB (Office of Management and Budget) for 2023 did a report on rules that it considers major rules for the year plus some others. The cost of these rules is estimated at 16.1 billion plus another 1.92 billion. These rules came from the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy, Health and Human services, Education, Labor, Transportation and others. A broader compilation of the total rules cost for 2023 came in at 129 billion. The American Action Forum compiled 331 rules for 2024; and total cost comes in at an enormous figure of 1.3 trillion. Much of this was the auto café rules. This implies many Billions of increases that the OMB should recognize when they get around to doing a report. The OMB is charged to do a cost benefit calculation of rules. They have not done one since the early 2000’s. It is hard to imagine what net benefit there is to agency rules. It is hard to quantify the price for clean water; or what benefit is to be had for requiring compliance and documentation for things such as hiring, overtime, and the benefits for things such as health care and retirement savings are in compliance. Small Business especially is just overwhelmed with too many rules and requirements.
Combine the current Government deficit of over 30 trillion with the explosion of agency rules and business costs over the last several years; and anyone can see things have got to change. Worldly inflation caused by supply and demand is not the only cause of rising prices. Government keeps creeping bigger and bigger.
At this point, it should not be a partisan issue. The U.S. Government bureaucracy should be beneficial not a burden. The barometer tells us the burden is too much.
And while I am at it: This is 2024 there is no reason I cannot file my taxes on my cell phone. I can sell a Million dollars in stock on it. It makes no sense. Oh, I forgot, the Government rarely makes sense.
Thanks for your business!
Thanks, Andy McClung CFP TM
Forbes.com Clyde Wayne Crews Jr.