{"id":225,"date":"2011-08-23T18:40:49","date_gmt":"2011-08-24T01:40:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/savingusmanufacturing.com\/blog\/?p=225"},"modified":"2011-08-23T22:06:22","modified_gmt":"2011-08-24T05:06:22","slug":"government-regulations-create-huge-costs-for-manufacturers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/savingusmanufacturing.com\/blog\/general\/government-regulations-create-huge-costs-for-manufacturers\/","title":{"rendered":"Government Regulations Create Huge Costs for Manufacturers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do you remember playing a game when you were a child where you tried your best not to walk on any cracks in the sidewalk so the \u201cbig bad bear\u201d wouldn\u2019t get you or you wouldn\u2019t break your mother\u2019s back?\u00a0 If you lived in a city where the sidewalks were old, there were so many cracks that you had to tip toe to get by without stepping on any cracks.\u00a0 Well, businesses today are being forced to play a similar game with government, and the \u201ccracks\u201d are getting so close together that it\u2019s almost impossible to tip toe through the maze of \u201ccracks\u201d that come in the form of government regulations.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Federal Register<\/em> contains 81,405 pages of the federal rules and regulations that businesses are required to comply with. \u00a0Federal regulations strain the economy by creating huge costs that business are obligated to meet and serve as a hidden tax on the economy.<\/p>\n

James Hamilton<\/a> of Freedom Works wrote, \u201cThe cost of complying with federal regulation increases businesses\u2019 expenses by billions of dollars every year. \u00a0Some of the compliance cost associated with federal regulation comes out of businesses\u2019 profits, but much of the costs are passed down to consumers in form of higher prices. \u00a0Compliance costs associated with regulations cut into businesses\u2019 profits, while higher prices increase the day to day expenses of all consumers. \u00a0Because regulations create artificial costs that must be paid by both producers and consumers, they cost the economy money and act as a drag on economic growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Between 2001 and 2011, 38,700 new regulations were added to the Federal Register. Of the over 4,000 new regulations that are currently being developed by various departments and agencies, 224 are estimated to cost the economy more than $100 million each. \u00a0The Obama administration is greatly expanding regulation, with massive new regulations in the works at the Environmental Protection Agency and a host of yet to be written regulations covering financial services to comply with Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Bill.<\/p>\n

A study by the Regulatory Studies Program at George Mason University\u2019s Mercatus Center in 2001(\u201cA Review and Synthesis of the Cost of Workplace Regulations<\/a>\u201d) found that workplace regulations have a significant cost. \u00a0The researchers surveyed 100 manufacturers in the United States, ranging from 7 employees to 65,400 employees.\u00a0 The survey showed:<\/p>\n