Staggering Cost of Government Regulations: Jonathan Williams on American Radio Journal
This is the cost of what some call the fourth branch of government, the administrative state.
ALEC Executive Vice President of Policy and Chief Economist, Jonathan Williams, discusses on American Radio Journal the high cost of regulation in America, which amounted to $3 trillion in 2022, or 12% of the country’s total economic output. He highlights the problem of regulatory overreach and its impact on Americans’ lives, citing the recent Supreme Court decision in Loper Bright as a positive development. Williams argues that the elimination of the Chevron deference doctrine will now allow elected representatives to address policy challenges and issues directly, rather than relying on unelected bureaucrats.
As we are aware, painfully in many cases, how much the burden of government impacts us through the many forms of taxation. But do we know how much the burden of government costs us through regulation? My guess is probably not in many cases, but my friends at the Balancing Act Project, thankfully put together some of the following numbers for us, and the cost of regulation in America is staggering.
Consider this, regulatory costs amounted to a whopping $3 trillion in 2022 alone. That’s a big number, but that amounts to 12% of the total economic output of the United States GDP that year, or an average of $12,800 for every single employee in America. And the problem of this regulatory overreach is growing at an alarming pace. In the first year of the Biden administration alone, there was a $465 billion increase in regulatory costs. This is the cost of what some call the fourth branch of government, the administrative state.