Gedankenexperiment

[cjsmith]

What would the US economy be like if, every time its government passed a law regulating some form of commerce or industry, the GOVERNMENT was directly obligated to pick up the tab for compliance? How would the legislative process be different from what the US has today? What social patterns might result?

Comments

[sinboy.livejournal.com]

That would depend on how you defined compliance. Do you mean paying for the retooling of factories, or paying for extra employees to cover mandatory vacation allowances, or what?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yep. Any and all of it: whatever is required to comply with the law in question. Environmental cleanup costs, temporary wages covering for someone on maternity leave, design and printing of nutrition information... Obviously it would spread the burden from the companies' customers, where it sits today, to taxpayers in general. That's a pretty big change. I bet a lot would follow from it.

[(Anonymous)]

The obvious impact would be the increase in companies clamoring for more expensive government regulation, as an income source. Secondary impact would be even more bureaucracy, both in the govt and in the sectors thus dealing with the govt. And of course higher taxes, but *everything* causes that :) _Mark_

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

The obvious impact would be the increase in companies clamoring for more expensive government regulation, as an income source.

Fraud, you mean; I postulated only that the government paid legitimate expenses of compliance. But you may be very right. Do you presume more corruption than we have today, or roughly the same?

Secondary impact would be even more bureaucracy, both in the govt and in the sectors thus dealing with the govt. And of course higher taxes, but *everything* causes that :)

Definitely. What next? I wonder whether there would be pressure to pass fewer laws. Would this shrink government in the long run, because people would get sick of paying? Or would government balloon to enormous proportions?

[(Anonymous)]

Oh, I don't mean fraud at all, any more than the "Aerospace Welfare" nature of the Space Shuttle program is fraud.

For example, someone in the recycling industry might push for an actual mandate for the recycling of type-6 plastics. That turns out to be very expensive to do - but they could make a lot of money off of doing it, if it were mandated, instead of taken care of by the market... I realize a recycling example probably pushes the wrong buttons, but you get the idea.

As for getting sick of paying: we've got a long way to go before we reach european levels of taxation. Start small: tax gas up to the $4/gallon level. *That* will have an end-user impact...

_Mark_

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

For example, someone in the recycling industry might push for an actual mandate for the recycling of type-6 plastics. That turns out to be very expensive to do - but they could make a lot of money off of doing it, if it were mandated, instead of taken care of by the market... I realize a recycling example probably pushes the wrong buttons, but you get the idea.

Ah. I misunderstood you. In fact, I'm probably still misunderstanding; as I understand it, the very same thing could and probably does happen today. If Company A is suddenly required to recycle all its type-6 plastics, Recycler B probably doesn't care whether Company A gets the funds to pay B from the government or from raising A's prices.

As for getting sick of paying: we've got a long way to go before we reach european levels of taxation.

Agreed. Would this surpass them? Are any of the Europeans sick of paying yet?

Start small: tax gas up to the $4/gallon level. *That* will have an end-user impact...

Somehow I doubt it would get us functional public transportation, though. :-)