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U.S. regulatory costs twice budget deficit

WASHINGTON, June 21 (UPI) -- Federal regulations impose costs on the U.S. economy that equal more than twice the estimated $375 billion budget deficit.

According to a study published Monday by the libertarian Cato Institute, 127 of the 4,266 regulations currently in the regulatory pipeline will have an economic impact of at least $100 million and will impose at least $12.7 billion annually in future off-budget costs.

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Total regulatory costs in 2002 are estimated at $869 billion, equivalent to 40 percent of all fiscal 2003 outlays and 7.9 percent of the 2003 U.S. gross domestic product.

"The exact cost of federal regulations can never be fully known," said CATO's Clyde Wayne Crews, author of the group's annual regulatory survey, "Ten Thousand Commandments."

Because regulatory costs, like taxes, are often passed along by those who bear them to consumers and other end users, it is difficult to make an accurate measurement. According to the White House Office of Management and Budget however, the cumulative costs of major regulations from 1993 to 2004 are estimated at somewhere between $34 and $39 billion.

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