At a recent conference put on by our friends at the Cato Institute, Elon Musk shared some incredible wisdom on the out-of-control regulatory environment:
We have created regulatory gridlock, for example, in California. It’s basically illegal to build big projects…. We need a ‘throw out the garbage’ process for sunsetting and removing the growth of regulations in order to let society function and to lighten up the arteries.
Regulations are in my view are largely terrible. A better way would be for companies to pay a penalty if they make a mistake rather than try to restrict them in advance with the limited information regulators have.. it would be profoundly effective for the advancement of contracts.
I think the government should essentially be like the football league assuring a level playing field. It should provide referees to ensure fair play. But now it seems the government has more referees on the field than there are players.
Musk concluded with an idea we heartily endorse. He suggested that “every regulation should be accompanied by the name of the person primarily responsible for it” so we can analyze their expertise, their track record and assign responsibility for failure.
Watch the video below:
