Overregulation has turned the United States into something of a leaky boat. Instead of taking on water, we’re taking on regulatory burden—and losing potential growth. The buildup of regulatory burden in the United States has been estimated to slow economic growth by nearly 1% per year. That adds up to trillions of dollars of growth that could have been achieved but wasn’t.
Now, if your boat is taking on water, the first thing you do is stop the leaks—and fortunately, that seems to be the logic of the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act of 2023, or the REINS Act. Regulatory reform is much needed, and on that, REINS is a good start. But it is just that—a start. More needs to be done to control runaway regulation.
