Speaker of the House Mike Johnson today:
We want to take a blowtorch to the regulatory state. These agencies have been weaponized against the people. It’s crushing the free market; it’s like a boot on the neck of job creators and entrepreneurs and risk takers.
I know this is standard Republican rhetoric, but I wonder if they ever actually listen to themselves when they say this? I'm hardly in favor of regulation willy nilly, but all the evidence suggests that it hasn't hurt much of anything. Business applications in the US continue to rise. Our economic growth is the best among advanced countries. Construction spending has skyrocketed. The finance industry continues to make mountains of money. Innovation is strong. Business profits as a share of the economy have nearly doubled over the past two decades.
At the same time, air and water quality has improved tremendously over the past 50 years. Industrial accidents have declined. Consumer protection is stronger. Seat belts and air bags save thousands of lives a year.
And just look at the economic performance of highly regulated states. The five most regulated states (allegedly) are:
- California
- New York
- New Jersey
- Illinois
- Texas
The five least regulated states are:
- Idaho
- South Dakota
- North Dakota
- Montana
- Nevada
Which list strikes you as the economic powerhouses? If you guessed the top one, congratulations. The most regulated states have a combined GDP per capita a third higher than the least regulated ones, and both have the same growth rate.
None of this is to suggest that regulation is an unalloyed good. The Jones Act has wrecked the US shipping industry. Regulatory capture is a real thing. Occupational licensing could probably stand to be pared back. Regulations often harm small companies more than deep-pocketed big ones. The deregulation of trains, planes, trucks and telephones was reasonably successful. (Deregulation of the savings and loan industry less so.) Etc.
But what's the case for a generalized jihad against regulation? It's a little hard to see one.
You're aware we no longer live in a shared reality of agreed upon facts, right? And that Christians like the speaker lie like a rug?