The Unbearable Lightness of Regulatory Costs

The Article counters the presumption that increased environmental regulation necessarily decreases economic prosperity. It analyzes the European chemical regulatory structure and deduces that any costs imposed on the consumer are minimal, and more cost effective than watered-down American regulations covering the same subject matter with approximately the same cost imposed on the consumer-taxpayer. It argues the Office of Management and Budget and regulated industries have consistently overestimated the costs of environmental regulation and promoted the theory that environmental regulation causes factories and jobs to move offshore. It concludes that deregulation may not spur growth.