She shouldn't be changing diapers and handling food, they explained. Also, A.J. might get hurt. Jennifer had to go to court before she could reopen her restaurant. Unfortunately, this sort of ludicrous story is commonplace. Federal controls, supplemented by state and local rules, raise business costs, which destroy jobs and hike consumer prices.
Environmental controls account for the second largest regulatory burden.
Almost as costly is economic regulation, such as trade barriers and entry restrictions in particular industries. Not surprisingly, the number of regulators and regulatory spending have increased sharply. Consider just a few areas where federal regulations have been extended. Based on dubious statutory authority, the EPA imposed wetlands rules requiring federal approval for even the most basic uses of an estimated 100 million acres of land, much of which was ordinarily dry. Landowners have been prosecuted or threatened with prosecution for removing trash, adding fill dirt, repairing a levee, installing a tennis court, plowing land, and planting crops without an Army Corps of Engineers permit.