The word deregulation is back, thanks mostly to Elon Musk’s strong emphasis on this as essential to restoring America’s prosperity. There are too many regulations, too many laws, too many rules. Of that there is surely universal agreement. No one approves of the unfathomable, convoluted, expensive, and internally contradictory thicket that has emerged over the decades.
In fact, Justice Neil Gorsuch has a new book with the title “Over Ruled.” It is outstanding with a focus on all the ways in which government imposition hobbles the freedom we are supposed to be guaranteed in the United States.
“The truth is, something’s happening in our country,” he writes.
“Law is multiplying, and its demands are growing increasingly complex. So much so that ordinary people are often caught by surprise, and even seasoned lawyers, lawmakers, and (yes) judges sometimes struggle to make sense of it all.”
“At the most basic level, law in our country has simply exploded. Think Congress is wracked by an inability to pass legislation? Less than a hundred years ago, all of the federal government’s statutes fit into a single volume. By 2018, the U.S. Code encompassed 54 volumes and approximately 60,000 pages. Over the last decade, Congress has adopted an average of 344 new pieces of legislation each session. That amounts to about 2 to 3 million words of new federal law each year. Even the length of bills has grown—from an average of around 2 pages in the 1950s to 18 today.”
“Still, these figures from Congress only begin to tell the story. Federal agencies have been busy, too. They write new rules and regulations implementing or interpreting Congress’s laws. Many bear the force of law.”
Years ago, I began to notice how household items were not working anymore. The showerheads are federally regulated to restrict flow, as are the toilets and garbage disposals. The mandated designs and blueprints make all the products worse.
The new gas cans are awful, while the old ones sell for a premium. I was mowing the lawn and found that it kept getting clogged because of a lack of airflow. Sure enough, the functioning was hobbled by safety regulations that forced the cage ever lower to the grass surface, to the point that the machine does not do what it is supposed to do.
Indeed, it is hard to think of a single product you use that is not trapped in some kind of forced design emanating from a federal bureaucracy. This pertains to everything in your house but also to every business, all the way down to the fabric of the aprons in every restaurant. These are just federal laws but state and local ones also add to the burden.
Ask any real estate developer and he will tell you the reason for the housing shortage.
It comes down to extreme controls on every single step in hiring and building. The customer ends up paying in two ways: higher prices and less choice.
Gorsuch notes: “If you’re a budding pasta entrepreneur, take note: by federal decree, macaroni must have a diameter between 1.1 and .27 inches, while vermicelli must not be more than .06 inches in diameter. Both may contain egg whites—but those egg whites cannot constitute more than two percent of the weight of the finished product.”
Every product in the grocery store is regulated this way. Ever wondered why the meat stock you buy at the store is mostly water with not much stock? That is heavily regulated. As I’ve pointed out before, the United States is one of the few countries in the world that requires eggs to be washed before being sold, which means that they have to be refrigerated. First-time visitors to the United States are amazed at this.
It’s true with meat: it is simply not possible to raise a cow and sell the meat without jumping through many regulatory hoops and using independent processors. This has benefitted agri-business but has been very harmful for small farmers. Small farmers suffer daily because of this.
Elon himself has told stories about how his Starship launches are routinely delayed by crazy mandates. His recent launch-and-catch had to be delayed for studies on how the landing would impact the sharks, the whales, and the hearing of the seals. And that’s just the start of it. All of Elon’s companies are facing an astonishing blizzard of attacks from agencies.
Truly, there are no words to describe the reach and scope of the regulatory state. It’s a minefield with no map and danger with every step. If you have ever attempted to start a business, you know. Every industry faces huge compliance costs. It’s not just capital you have to spend. You need lawyers. You need consultants. You need, above all, time, and lots of it.
