The graph above, taken from this post at RealClearPolicy, illustrates pretty clearly that federal regulations impose a greater burden on Red States than they do on Blue States.
Is this coincidence? Why are red states red in our heatmap, and why are blue states blue? Our index is completely data-driven, and two factors explain much of this pattern: the specialization of a state in one or a few industries and the growing importance of environmental regulations.
It’s not a coincidence but I do not think the cause is political, either, at least not in the way that we usually understand politics. Consider this slightly dated map from August 2015 of the unemployment rate by state:
They aren’t identical by any means but I think there’s a certain resonance between the two maps, just as there is between both of them and maps of Red States and Blue States.
I really wish I could see a map of the actual enforcement of federal regulations by state. I suspect it would tell the story even more clearly. You can have all of the regulations in the world; it’s how or whether they’re actually enforced that really makes the difference.
I think that what the disparate burden indicates is a difference of opinion, a difference in priorities among states. That’s the rationale for federalism and IMO a key reason we should be suspicious of an activist federal government.
Even better would be calculating and mapping the burden of local and state regulations. Try bringing a historical register listed building up to code, double pane tinted windows, satellite dish, etc. The local historical board can become the local hysterical board.
Their methodology is very odd. They have set it up so that the energy industry, motor vehicle production and electricity generation are considered the most regulated. They seem tilted towards the EPA. Given that this was generated by a group with clear bias, I would assume they were trying to prove something and went fishing until they found metrics that supported their preferred outcome. Count me skeptical.
Steve
@steve, why do you think their methodology sets ups the EPA? Is there any regulatory agency that is constantly proposing and writing regulations as much as the EPA?
PD- Because that is what they emphasize in their methods section. They detect who has the most regulations and most influential ones by looking for the words “shall” and “must”. Sure is faster than reading the actual regs, but not very meaningful. I suspect that they probably know that those words appear more often in energy sector regs and for auto manufacturers.
I don’t really know who published the most rules, however, it looks the total has been dropping.
https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43056.pdf
Steve