What seems not to have occurred to members of Congress is that there is a way to boost the economy that not only doesn't require federal spending but actually reduces it: removing the drag caused by excessive, unscientific and net-negative regulation.

FORBES: Magazine Article

In fact, Summers' study says that the boom in employment regulation has had several negative effects on business in local communities.

FORBES: Worker's Permit

However, it is the implicit costs of regulation that are more likely to generate overall negative outcomes and impair economic efficiency and growth, not to mention the inevitable unintended consequences of such regulation.

FORBES: Will Financial Regulation Trash Global Economic Security?

There is another compelling reason to eliminate or modify regulation that is net-negative.

FORBES: Wrongheaded regulation will prolong the recession.

Dixon-Woods agrees that better food labeling, more education, and stricter regulation is necessary to reduce misunderstanding and negative attitudes about nut allergies especially in the United States, where peanut-based products are ubiquitous and the word allergy is frequently used to describe non-life-threatening conditions such as hay fever.

CNN: Kids with nut allergies feel teased, excluded

From the prospect of higher federal taxes and the costs of government initiatives such as health care reform to the negative influences of the media and the potential for increased regulation, business has been cornered into passivity.

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Jason Goldberg of Barclays Capital writes that the legislation's negative impact would come through fee reductions, higher costs of regulation and implementation and new restrictions, as well as tying up capital.

FORBES: Regulatory Reform