Regulatory Dysfunction

by Jerry Shenk. Government costs us more than the taxes we pay (and the money we borrow), because taxes do not include the cost of regulatory compliance. Compliance costs are built into the price of goods and services purchased by American consumers and businesses. If we are to emerge from recession, American business regulatory burden must be reassessed. In a 2008 review of the cost of government regulations ... MORE

Thomas Sowell: Political Statistics

When someone gives you a check and the bank informs you that there are insufficient funds, who do you get mad at? In your own life, you get mad at the guy who gave you a check that bounced, not at the bank. But, in politics, you get mad at whoever tells you that there is no money. One of the secrets of the growth of the welfare state is that politicians get a lot of mileage out of making promises, without ... MORE

Why Are People So Forgiving Of Government Failure?

by Christopher Westley.  Once upon a time, I developed a theory that we have much lower expectations for public-sector performance than we do for private-sector performance. We saw this in accounting standards that — when applied to Enron — resulted in market forces shutting that firm down, while the Department of Defense loses billions of dollars  ... MORE