The estimated range for the decade's costs was $78 to $115 billion (agencies typically assert costs are less than benefits). This author maintains that regulatory costs are unknowable in an elemental sense, that they are not observable nor calculable—much as the economic calculations necessary to enable central economic planning are impossible. With unbridled government, there ample paths to trillions in regulatory costs just as federal spending occupies those heights. The Small Business Administration (SBA) last published an assessment of the federal regulatory apparatus in 2010, pegging annual regulatory compliance costs at $1.75 trillion. In a 2014 report, the National Association of Manufacturers modeled 2012 total annual regulatory costs in the economy of $2.028 trillion (in 2014 dollars).

Source: Forbes August 25, 2020 16:07 UTC