Rewards and Risks of a Federal Regulatory Budget (Part 2)

Clyde Wayne Crews

Yesterday in this space, I advocated the idea of a regulatory cost budget but noted looming pitfalls and political traps that could derail it or easily make it not worth supporting, or even render it something I'd actively oppose. Let’s get started with the first pitfall today, with more to come later.

Hazard 1: The Perverse Expansion of Government

The most elemental risk of a regulatory budget was submitted by Christopher DeMuth during the era when the idea was being framed (that is, the 70s disco era and then the early 80s before hair metal). DeMuth wrote a lengthy defense of cost budgeting concepts, but cautioned that a regulatory budget could potentially bring more of the economy’s private expenditures under purview of government by incorporating them into the workings of a public budget, advising “It is worth pondering at length before we invest too much effort in the details of implementation.”.......To Read More.....