Originally published in Flourishing November/December 2012
In the June 2012 issue of this newsletter, I asked you to think about the reasons for America’s high unemployment rate. Then in the next two issues, I wrote that government interference in the form of minimum wage laws have helped raise the unemployment rate among black inner city youth to nearly 40%; and that laws favoring union bosses over non-union workers have in many states forced wages to uneconomic levels.
The important thing to keep in mind is that for most businesses, wages are their most significant cost. So, when the price of labor is forced to uneconomic levels by government interference, unemployment and business failures are certain to be the result. The principle also applies to government mandated, one-size-fits-all, health insurance benefits. All labor costs—however necessary or desirable they may seem—consume capital that might otherwise be deployed in new business investment and in creating new jobs.
Now, as an exemplar of government overreach in other areas, let’s consider the national 55 miles-per-hour speed limit. Passed by Congress in 1974 with the intention of reducing fuel consumption, that law—when it was obeyed—increased labor costs for the obvious reason that it required at least twenty percent more time for shippers to deliver the goods. Because it was virtually unenforceable and widely ignored, the 55 miles-per-hour speed limit was ultimately repealed in 1995. That alone tells you just how economically silly the law was.
Then consider that from January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2011, the Code of Federal Regulations has increased by 11,327 pages. According to the Office of Management and Budget, that brings the total register of federal regulations to 169,301 pages. That’s a stack of paper 32 feet high. I’m not sure I can throw a football that high. Common sense tells me that every one of those pages adds to the cost of doing business. And, what are the odds that in 169,301 pages of regulations there will be contradictory and ambiguous rules? The probability must be pushing 100%. If I’m right, a regulatory violation is virtually guaranteed for every business in America. That makes me suspect that the real purpose of our government is not to catch criminals, but to create them. I have to ask, “How many productive jobs could be created with the dollars it takes to pay and entertain the little Caesars who dream up 11,327 pages of regulations in just three years?”
Taxes come at businesses from virtually every legislative body, and for an unending variety of “needs”. These costs—with the exception of most sales taxes—are not generally passed along to consumers, as is frequently claimed. It’s a myth; like labor costs, they’re usually paid out of capital. Virtually every dollar taken out of the private economy by taxes is consumed; either by the government directly—where waste, fraud, and abuse are notoriously rampant—or by those who are the beneficiaries of government largess. These are all dollars that won’t be voluntarily invested in the expansion of existing businesses, the launching of new enterprises, or the creation of new jobs. Higher business taxes mean fewer jobs.
Contrary to another myth, most entrepreneurs and business managers aren’t keen to take unnecessary risks. In recent years, though, they’ve faced bellicose, irresponsible, and undeserved taunts and vague economic threats; all for the purpose of media attention and/or political expediency. When the most productive people in America are collectively demonized by politicians and pundits for allegedly being selfish, predatory, unpatriotic, and unnecessary—as if every successful business in America is run by Bernie Madoff or Vito Corleone—is it any great surprise that many companies, especially relatively small businesses with 50 to 500 employees and limited legal budgets, are reluctant to expand and hire new workers? I think not.
Finally, if this discussion wore you out or made you angry—as it just did me—I’m sorry. But, just imagine how a business executive or small business owner must feel. Concerned for the welfare of her employees and their families, responsible to her bankers and her investors, trying desperately to provide quality products and services to her customers—all the while dealing with government’s taxes, rules, mandates, and threats—she must feel as Hercules felt in his battle with the Hydra. She is my hero. mh
Helping Families Flourish 