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Curated Curiosity: Why government bloat might be your biggest opportunity.

Curated Curiosity: Why government bloat might be your biggest opportunity.

All In Podcast 205: DOGE unveils a roadmap, Unlocking GDP Growth, WW3 escalation, Fat cell memory

Ben Averbook
November 25, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes

TODAY'S INSIGHT

"The United States economy could be growing at 4-5%, but the reason it doesn't is in that one single chart showing regulatory growth. It's impossible to live up to your economic potential when you have this burden on your neck."

- Chamath Palihapitiya

FEATURED EPISODE

All In Podcast 205: DOGE unveils a roadmap, Unlocking GDP Growth, WW3 escalation, Fat cell memory

WHAT THEY SAID

DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) plans to target $500B in unauthorized federal expenditures and implement massive audits during temporary payment suspensions
Two Supreme Court rulings (West Virginia v. EPA and Loper Bright v. Raimondo) give legal backing to eliminate regulations that exceed Congressional authority
California case study: Regulatory burden increased 50% from 1997-2015, reaching 61,000 individual regulations, leading to private sector exodus
Regulation disproportionately hurts middle and lower-income workers - from hairdressers needing $7,000 licenses to small business owners facing endless permitting
Most dramatic opportunity is simple transparency: showing Americans exactly where their tax dollars go and creating public leaderboards of waste vs efficiency

WHY IT MATTERS

The US economy is operating far below its potential due to regulatory burden and inefficient spending. Removing these barriers could trigger an economic "sonic boom" and unlock massive GDP growth through increased business formation, job creation, and innovation.

MY TAKES

The most interesting argument from this episode was about how DOGE is going to be portrayed by the mainstream media. Most likely it will be shown as a ploy by Elon and Vivek to reduce regulation for big corporations like Tesla and reduce taxes for the rich.

My favorite point that Chamath makes in this episode is that regulation oftentimes hurts middle-lower-class Americans more than it hurts the ultra-wealthy.

PS: Last week I asked if you would prefer weekly or daily emails from this newsletter. I received an overwhelming response that I should continue daily. I am sorry if 5x a week is too many; however, I think if I switched to weekly, they would end up being too long.