Costs and benefits of major U.S. federal regulations, 2003–2013 (average values from ranges of estimates, in billions of dollars) Agency Benefits Costs Benefits minus costs Benefit : Cost ratio Department of Energy 15.6 5.9 9.7 2.6 Department of Health and Human Services 32.4 4.6 Department of Transportation 25.4 11.6 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 507.2 42.2 Other departments 25.1 8.1 Total (billions of dollars) 605.7 72.4
Critics of command-and-control policy often argue that regulations
are costly to business and industry, yet cost-benefit
analyses (p. 94) repeatedly show that regulations bring citizens
more benefits than costs, overall. Each year the U.S. Office
of Management and Budget assesses costs and benefits of
major federal regulations of administrative agencies. Results
from the most recent report, covering the decade from 2003
to 2013, are presented in the table (shown are averages from
ranges of estimates). Subtract costs from benefits, and enter
these values for each agency in the third column. Divide benefits
by costs, and enter these values in the fourth column.
What percentage of total benefits from regulations comes
from EPA regulations? Most of the benefits and costs from
EPA regulations are from air pollution rules resulting from
the Clean Air Act and its amendments. Judging solely by
these data, would you say that Clean Air Act legislation
has been a success or a failure for U.S. citizens? Why?
Step by step
Solved in 2 steps
