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Abstracts and Reviews
Competitive Enterprise Institute Issues Policy Papers on Regulatory Reform
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), an organization dedicated to advancing principles of limited government and free enterprise, has recently published several papers containing a number of interesting proposals for regulatory reform. Topics addressed include preparation of a Regulatory Budget, a critical look at off-budget spending (i.e. cost to the private sector of complying with government regulations), and other topics such as cost-benefit analysis. CRE lauds CEI's efforts to bring this important information to the attention of the public and for its reasoned recommendations for reform.
The CEI articles are referenced below and include a brief discussion of major points. CRE is also providing access to these works in their entirety through links to the CEI website (www.cei.org).
- "Jump, Jive an' Reform Regulation"
Clyde Wayne Crews, Jr., Director of Competition and Regulation Policy, CEI
This article makes a variety of recommendations designed to improve the accountability of federal agencies and the Congress in terms of cost-benefit analyses associated with federal regulatory actions. Among the proposals contained in the paper are:
- Halt Regulation Without Representation: Require Congress to Approve Agency Regulations
- Publish an Annual Regulatory Report Card
- Require that Agencies Calculate Costs, but Not Benefits
- Lower "Major Rule" Thresholds
- Create New Categories of Major Rules
- Explore Regulatory Cost Budgets
- Publish Data on Economic and Health/Safety Regulations Separately
- Disclose Transfer, Administrative and Procedural Regulatory Costs
- Explicitly Note Indirect Regulatory Costs
- Agencies and the OMB Must: (1) Recommend Rules to Eliminate and (2) Rank Rules'' Effectiveness
- Create Benefit Yardsticks to Compare Agency Effectiveness
- Reconsider Review and Sunsetting of New and Existing Regulations
- Establish a Bipartisan Regulatory Reduction Commission to Survey Existing Rules
Click here to read "Jump, Jive an' Reform Regulation."
- "Ten Thousand Commandments: An Annual Policymaker's Snapshot of the Federal Regulatory State"
Clyde Wayne Crews, Jr., Director of Competition and Regulation Policy, CEI
This article provides a perspective on the "hidden" costs associated with federal regulations. While the federal government spent $1.65 trillion in 1998 on its total on-line budget, additional significant costs are passed on to the private sector in terms of compliance with federal regulations. OMB estimates these "off-line" costs total approximately $230 million per year (1998), but competing estimates have put the figure at $737 million. CEI's recommended solution is to have the Congress approve agency final rules, as a way to increase accountability to the public for these regulatory costs.
Click here to read "Ten Thousand Commandments: An Annual Policymaker's Snapshot of the Federal Regulatory State."
- "Promise and Peril: Implementing a Regulatory Budget"
Clyde Wayne Crews, Jr., Director of Competition and Regulation Policy, CEI
The final CEI article proposes a Regulatory Budget for the federal government to use in justifying the significant costs associated with federal regulations. Under the proposal, Congress would be asked to set a limit on total regulatory costs, and agencies would be expected to justify (or lose) their share of the regulatory costs imposed on society. Such an approach would help ensure that the most beneficial and cost-effective regulations receive highest priority. The author sees expanded congressional responsibility in this area as a way to end "Regulation Without Representation."
Click here to read "Promise and Peril: Implementing a Regulatory Budget."
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