Local gov'ts' out-of-control regulation-mania stifles local business
"Polypharmacy" is a medical term used to describe the use of multiple medications, often defined as five or more, which increases the risk of adverse drug interactions & side effects. This can lead to complications like a "prescription cascade," where a medication's side effect is mistaken for a new condition and leads to yet another prescription. Image by Jonathan Borba
Whether you're a Silicon Valley housing provider, a start-up restaurant, a medium-sized services firm, or even a big tech concern--get ready for the one-two punch of bureaucratic micromanagement and sky-high levies.
It's not just the taxes--those ever-increasing number of taxes.
Rather, one of the driving reasons why Silicon Valley is increasingly unaffordable and hostile to business? A cascade of government business regulations.
On second thought, make that an avalanche.
Time-consuming, spirit-killing paperwork. Arcane demands that run counter to business and customer needs. Overweening gov't micromanagement--most notably in Housing. Constant goalpost-moving. Dramatically increased cost of doing business. Zero evaluation of regulations' effectiveness.
And of course, the preening indifference and arrogance of city pols and bureaucrats that compel Hamlet to wonder if it's even worth it to endure "The law's delay/the insolence of office."
Little surprise, then, that when local business people explain why they leave SJ and its environs in large numbers, they list:
Onerous, voluminous, and increasing regulations that deter start-ups and growth.
Ever-changing, contradictory regulatory demands that steal time needed to actually run a business.
And, of course, zero metrics-based evaluations of whether or not these regulations even achieve their purpose (in fact, they often make things worse--see Rent Control).
So prepare for another year in which the mad doctors of local gov't will write scores of new prescriptions regulations for just about every symptom under the sun that they don't like. And don't be surprised if this virtual regulation cascade results in an ever-sicker business environment that drives away (or into bankruptcy) immigrant businesspeople, entrepreneurs, and even large corporations.
And along the way, raising the cost of living for us all.
The first rule of doctors is to "Do no harm." Pertinent advice for our local pols and gov't staffers, as well.
—CJE for the Opp Now team
This weekend's new stories:
How excessive local regs hammer SV housing providers
The difference between good regs and bad regs
How regulatory burdens hurt businesses and customers alike
Stuck in the middle (-sized business category) with regs
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