Most of the time, the target is federal
regs.
However, Katherine Rampell at
WashingtonPost.com says wait a minute, look elsewhere:
“…if you talk with entrepreneurs,
you’ll learn that — with the major exception of our criminally convoluted [federal]
tax system — the most burdensome barriers to their efforts often don’t
originate with the feds.”
Instead,
she points to state and local regs governing occupational licensing, business
licensing, registrations, permitting, hiring, overtime pay, zoning, insurance, size
of the business sign, parking….
Don’t get me wrong. I’m in favor of
government at all levels regulating the conduct of business operations. I’m
happy that somebody somewhere is supposed to be checking on hazardous waste
disposal, honest payment of overtime, hiring discrimination, product quality,
on-the-job safety….
Here’s another note that isn’t often
mentioned: Rampell points out that “Powerful industry
groups and other organizations also have a vested interest in preserving
barriers to entry, which is one reason so few
occupations ever get de-licensed.” There are plenty of regulations
that plenty of businesses love to have imposed on real and potential competitors.
Are
some government regulations out-of-date, poorly written, poorly enforced, just
plain dumb….? Sure.
We
should talk about fixing all the problems with business regs, not about getting
rid of them.
Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2016
All rights reserved.
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