Chapter 10: Reforming Government Regulation

Over the years, many efforts have been made to improve the process of government regulation of business, Some of the changes have required legislative enactments; they have been slow in coming. Many others could be carried out by executive branch authority; subatantial progress has occourred in that way. The advent of a professional literature on measuring the impacts of regulation has fueled a concern about improving the effctiveness and reducing the burden of the vast network of rules, prohibitions, and requirements that government imposes on the pricate sector.


Abrute fact should be engraved on our consciousness: given finite resources, when we choose to reduce one toxin, we also choose to tolerate another. The American people want a safe and healthy environment, but they also want a strong national defense, first-rate transportation, better and cheaper medical care, good homes, laborsaving appliances, a varied diet, and entertainment. Those who uphold the encironment as a primary value compete daily with the advocates of these other worthy objective.


Given the variety of regulatory statutes and rulings, it is likely than an array of regulatory reforms may be needed. At the heart of benefit-cost, cost-effectiveness, and benefit-risk analyses is the proposition that the existence of finite resources requires society to set prioriries and to make choices.



Source:Business and Government in the Global Marketplace (7 edition Murray L. Weidenbaum)