Biden Admin Regulations Costing American Households $10,000 on Average
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A recent report reveals that under the Biden administration, burdensome regulations have led to an average cost of $10,000 per household. Unfortunately, if President Biden is re-elected in 2024 and continues for another four years, this figure could skyrocket further.
The report, authored by Casey Mulligan, an economics professor at the University of Chicago, compares the regulatory records of President Biden, former President Donald Trump, and former President Barack Obama. According to the study, the Biden administration has been imposing new regulatory costs at a faster pace than the Obama administration.
At a rate of $617 billion per year of rulemaking, the Biden administration has been adding significant regulatory costs, not counting those created by statutes and other non-rule regulatory actions.
Mulligan’s calculations demonstrate that the additional costs of Biden-era rules equate to about $9,600 per household, considering both current and expected future costs. These costs are spread over time, but if President Biden serves a second term, they could increase significantly.
The report warns that if rulemaking and regulatory costs continue to accelerate as they did during the Obama administration, households could face a cumulative cost of $7 trillion, averaging almost $60,000 per household after eight years under Biden’s leadership.
It’s important to note that Biden has fewer regulations per year than Obama and Trump in nearly every category, though his administration has implemented some notably expensive regulations, such as those related to student loans and vaccine mandates.
The analysis reveals that automobile fuel economy and emissions standards account for approximately one-third of the total regulatory costs. Additionally, health, labor, telecommunications, and consumer finance regulations contribute significantly to these costs.
While Trump oversaw large-scale deregulation, Biden has already implemented meaningful deregulations, setting him apart from Obama, who had minimal deregulation efforts in his first two years. Despite this, Trump’s overall deregulation efforts surpassed Biden’s.
The report emphasizes that President Trump demonstrated the possibility of reducing regulatory costs, unlike Biden, whose regulatory costs appear to be perpetually increasing.
Four years under Trump reduced regulatory costs by approximately $11,000 per household, potentially amounting to over $21,000 over eight years, presenting a significant gap compared to Biden’s current trajectory.
The report authored by Mulligan provides a comprehensive quantification of the costs that government agencies fail to include in their assessments. According to Mulligan, these agencies commonly impose large opportunity and resource costs without acknowledging them.
Even when agency estimates exclude significant regulatory costs, the report still demonstrates a noticeable disparity.
While eight years under President Trump only added an estimated $561 to the average household’s cost, Biden’s projected cost for staying 15% ahead of the Obama administration over the same period amounts to almost $11,000 per household on average.
The report links the resurgence of regulatory burdens to the stagnation of economic growth, declining worker productivity, and wages that fail to keep up with inflation.
As the 2024 presidential campaign approaches, Biden seeks to showcase his economic policies. During a recent speech in Chicago, Biden criticized ‘trickle-down economics’ and advocated for his own economic approach, known as ‘Bidenomics.’
He argues that his policies prioritize the middle class and foster positive growth and low unemployment. However, economists have disputed the notion that ‘Bidenomics’ benefits all Americans.
They point to the massive spending and historically high inflation that have characterized the president’s economic policies since taking office. While Biden’s administration highlights job growth, low unemployment, and an extensive infrastructure plan in a recent memo, critics argue that these achievements do not necessarily guarantee widespread economic benefit.
Biden’s claim of creating more jobs in two years than previous administrations did in their entire first terms has faced skepticism. Critics argue that during the coronavirus pandemic, job losses significantly affected the overall job numbers, making this claim misleading.
Recent polling suggests that Americans have little confidence in Biden’s ability to steer the U.S. economy. As of late May, a staggering 83% of voters perceive the economy to be in fair or poor shape, marking a 14-point decline compared to shortly after Biden’s inauguration in April 2021. Furthermore, only 20% of Americans believe that Biden’s policies are beneficial to them.