While we don’t usually complain about taxes we don’t see at the end of a food or clothes receipt, the hidden cost of government red tape makes everything more expensive. And the bureaucracy that exponentially grows red tape threatens democracy because in many case it’s created by government workers who aren’t elected by the people. That’s how bubbles get created like the one that Donald Trump popped last year. Each year, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), where I served as the 2015 Warren Brookes Journalism Fellow, releases its annual Ten Thousand Commandments report that spotlights this hidden tax on everything. From CEI’s Wayne Crews in the Ten Thousand Commandments 2017 report: “Federal regulation is a hidden tax that amounts to $15,000 ($14,809) per U.S. household each year or 21% of the average household income. More is “spent” on embedded regulation than on health care, food, transportation, entertainment, clothing and education. The burden of federal regulations cost American consumers, businesses and the economy an estimated$1.963 trillion in 2016. If the cost of federal regulations were a country, it would be the 7th largest, behind India and ahead of Italy. Crews underscores the need for more transparency, a better review process and more cost-benefit analyses for…
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