Overregulation

It's hardly a surprise that pro-business FOX news thinks business regulations are a bad idea, or at the very least overdone.  And they do have something of a point:  complying with regulations often comes with a cost, sometimes substantial.  Somehow, though, this regulation and concurrent cost is never considered "job-creating".  The Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts a 31% increase in private sector compliance jobs from 2008 to 2018.  Rather than being lauded for promoting measures to protect consumers, create jobs, and preserve the environment, Obama is castigated as being unfriendly to business.

One of the primary targets for regulation is the financial industry.  This regulation tends to be complex, largely because of the variety of instruments and techniques available in the suite of business and business models inherent in the industry.  For larger organizations, the cost increases considerably -- so keep in mind that when you look at "average" compliance costs for firms, what you're seeing is a combination of a lot of small firms with comparatively low costs and much larger firms with very high costs, not a standard Gaussian distribution.

The problem with compliance regulations isn't primarily that there are too many of them, but that they're not very effective.  Sometimes regulatory agencies make what should be relatively simple compliance more expensive than needed, and other times agencies focus on nits that really don't do anything to protect consumers, the industry, or anything else.

This blog will focus on regulations within the financial industry, their effects and efficacy, and related issues.  Honestly, I'm not sure I won't drift a little to other areas of law, but I'll try to keep it fairly focused and update at least every couple of days.