Is Overregulation Driving U.S. Companies Offshore?

[ProSense]

Is Overregulation Driving U.S. Companies Offshore?

By CATHERINE RAMPELL

As my colleague Richard A. Oppel Jr. reported on Thursday, Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is arguing that companies are sending work abroad primarily because of overregulation in the United States, and not because labor is cheaper abroad.

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Is that statement true? Are American regulations so burdensome that they are driving companies abroad?

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For the last nine years, the World Bank has been grading countries on 10 measures of business regulation: getting electricity, enforcing contracts, protecting investors, dealing with construction permits, trading across borders, registering property, resolving insolvency, paying taxes, getting credit and starting a business.

Based on these criteria, these are the top 10 countries where it is easiest to operate a business:

• Singapore
  
• Hong Kong
  
• New Zealand
  
• United States
  
• Denmark
  
• Norway
  
• United Kingdom
  
• South Korea
  
• Iceland
  
• Ireland

That’s right: The United States comes in fourth.

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That's not going to prevent Republicans from distortions.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. If we removed "regulations", we'd be trading unfettered business for

Undrinkable water and polluted water tables
Toxic air
Superfund sites proliferate
Abandoned pockets of territories due to radiation proliferation
Maimed limbs and dead bodies
Disposable employees
No guaranty of wages, and if wages, a pittance
No collective bargaining, all employment at will (where you can get fired for any reason or no reason at all)
No holidays, no week-ends off, no 8-hour days, no overtime
Wholesale poverty across the country
Riots

[WCGreen]

2. Corporate profits are the culprit...