On March 27, the U.S. Department of Justice launched an anticompetitive regulations task force seeking to identify and eliminate federal and state laws and regulations that undermine competition with particular interest in the housing, transportation, food and agriculture, and health care sectors. In new research, Director of Competition Policy Fred Ashton walks through the negative impacts excessive regulation has on competition.

He concludes:

Data showed that regulatory restrictions ballooned 198 percent between 1970 and 2022, while data from AAF’s RegRodeo found that federal regulatory rules finalized in 2023 and 2024 cost $11,150 per household, per year, or $1.5 trillion.

Excessively burdensome regulations stifle competitive markets, are negatively associated with firm births and deaths, and lead to regulatory capture that protects incumbents. Removing them would likely foster innovation, provide consumers with more choice, improved quality, and lower prices.

Read the analysis.