The Weekend Economists' Panglossian Pandemic January 20-22, 2012

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70. Government by Gobbledygook

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2012/01/bruce_braley_s_plain_regulations_act_can_the_iowa_democrat_force_the_government_to_write_in_clear_english_.html

When businesspeople complain about regulations, you should generally be skeptical. The regulations, after all, are there precisely because some businesses can make more money by despoiling the environment, endangering public health and safety, and threatening the financial system. A regulation that’s not annoying someone by wrecking his money-making scheme would be completely pointless.

But there is one category of complaints about regulations that should earn your sympathy: the complaints that too many government regulations are unreadable. Incomprehensible rules undermine, rather than enhance, the goal of preventing misconduct. They create unique burdens on smaller organizations or new entrants into a line of work. Hard-to-understand rules are a lawyer’s best friend, and the need for companies to lawyer up is a huge advantage to large or established entities.

Consider, for example, the relevant federal rules about renovating an old building suspected of containing lead paint. I hesitate to even quote examples of confusing regulatory language lest my column itself become unreadable, but surely the U.S. government can do better than: “On or after July 6, 2010, all renovations must be performed in accordance with the work practice standards in §745.85 and the associated recordkeeping requirements in §745.86(b)(1) and (b)(6) in target housing or child-occupied facilities, unless the renovation qualifies for the exception identified in §745.82(a).” You’ll be glad to know, however, that §745.82(a) does, among other things, offer an exemption for “emergency renovations” (which has a word salad definition of its own)—with the sub-exception that “emergency renovations are not exempt from the cleaning requirements of §745.85(a)(5), which must be performed by certified renovators or individuals trained in accordance with §745.90(b)(2), the cleaning verification requirements of §745.85(b), which must be performed by certified renovators, and the recordkeeping requirements of §745.86(b)(6) and (b)(7).” Got it? Me neither.

Into this stew dives Iowa Democrat Rep. Bruce Braley, who unveiled his Plain Regulations Act on Wednesday, saying, “Gobbledygook dominates the regulations issued by government agencies, making it almost impossible for small businesses to understand the rules of the road.” Forcing the government to write in plain English is a great idea. So good, in fact, that it’s enough to make you wonder why it hasn’t happened already.