Madame Chairwoman and Members of the Subcommittee, I appreciate the opportunity to participate in these hearings, which address an extremely important set of issues. Innovation and technical progress are the means by which our nation's overall economic welfare and living standards are improved. We must therefore try to assure that government programs enacted for a variety of different purposes do not create disincentives to the development and adoption of new technologies.
Regulatory programs come in different sizes and shapes.
Since necessity is the mother of invention, some of these programs undoubtedly stimulate the development of technologies needed to satisfy specific regulatory requirements. Overall, however, the effect of regulation on innovation is probably adverse. In particular, there are major regulatory programs affecting high-technology sectors of the economy that clearly discourage and delay the introduction of important new innovations of great potential benefit to consumers. These effects are frequently difficult to quantify. The cost of a new technology delivered to consumers several years later than it should be, for example, may not be readily apparent.