New figures concerning US regulatory costs

An interesting but highly critical study of the recent evolution of regulatory reform was published on 17 January by Free Enterprise. It quotes a study by the the American Action Forum showing that "$518 billion in new regulatory costs have been dropped on the economy in the last four years, nearly $216 billion in 2012 alone. Three big culprits are EPA, the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, and the health care law, and in 2013, expect more costly rules from each of them." The article also gives the example of mandated menu labeling (includig calorie count) for chain restaurants and "similar retail food establishments," including pizza franchises and grocery stores, that will cost $757 million, with figures taken from the Federal Registry RIA (enough to cut your appetite).