Choked by Red Tape

Why has the recession lasted so long? Partly because the Bush administration and Congress have joined together to burden the economy with all sorts of rules and red tape. During the last four years, the number of pages in the Federal Register, which lists all regulations, grew from 47,418 pages to 67,715 pages. These rules have a cost. The Congressional Joint Economic Committee estimates that federal red tape is equal to an indirect tax of $500 billion each year. The annual tab could reach $688 billion by the year 2000.