President Trump Is Repealing Two Regulations for Every New One

trump regulations repeal

Among President Donald Trump’s greatest successes thus far has been keeping government regulation in check. Almost without exception (the exception being the Reagan years), the number of pages in the federal register has grown every single year. During Trump’s first year alone, the entire register is projected to drop by a third in size, falling to a level not seen since 1993.

A large part is thanks to Trump simply repealing regulations en masse by executive order. The Trump Administration has withdrawn nearly 500 regulations proposed in the Obama Administration’s final regulatory agenda in 2016. The American Action Forum released a report in April concluding that the recent repeal and delay of regulations could lead to $86 billion in net benefits for taxpayers.

The American Action Forum previously reported that President Trump halted $181 billion in regulatory costs on his first day in office by signing an executive order that cuts two regulations for every new rule introduced. According to the Washington Examiner, “the American Action Forum found that the administration kept its one in, two out plan and saved $645 million, and has another $600 million in savings on the way.”

In total, Trump’s regulatory agenda has netted $645 million in savings, with at least $600 million more on the way.

So far, so good.

While we don’t advocate for economic anarchy, the overwhelming number of regulations on the books currently costs far more than they provide in benefit. A study from the Mercatus Center found that from 1977 through 2012, economic regulation—by distorting the investment choices that lead to innovation—has created a considerable drag on the economy, amounting to an average reduction in the annual growth rate of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) by 0.8 percent.

To give some perspective on just how drastic a 0.8 percent annual reduction in GDP growth is, consider the following: An economy that grows at 3% a year, and another that grows at 3.8%. The former will take 23.5 years to double in size, while the latter will take only 18.5 years to double. By that logic, according to the study:

  • If regulation had been held constant at levels observed in 1980, the U.S. economy would have been about 25 percent larger than it actually was as of 2012.
  • This means that in 2012, the economy was $4 trillion smaller than it would have been in the absence of regulatory growth since 1980.
  • This amounts to a loss of approximately $13,000 per capita, a significant amount of money for most American workers.

With regulation getting tossed by the wayside, it’s no wonder the stock market has been roaring under Trump’s presidency.

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By Matt

Matt is the co-founder of Unbiased America and a freelance writer specializing in economics and politics. He’s been published... More about Matt

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