The Dire Need for Regulatory Reform in New Mexico

New Mexico has been lagging its regional neighbors for many years. Throughout its 100 years of statehood, New Mexico has missed out on a great deal of private-sector economic development that has instead flowed to more economically-free states such as Colorado, Texas, and Arizona. New Mexico has instead relied on a steady and ever-growing flow of tax dollars from Washington for economic growth.¹

Unfortunately, this reliance on Washington has not made New Mexicans prosperous or their state wealthy. Rather, New Mexico has the highest poverty rate in the nation according to the Census Bureau.²

And, while economic trends are best understood over the long-term, New Mexico has again been lagging behind its regional counterparts as the growth of federal spending has stalled. The following chart from the Albuquerque Journal shows that New Mexico is the only state in the West that lost jobs between August 2011 and August 2012.³

It is often said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. One area where this is true is in the area of government regulations. New Mexico suffers from overregulation of its economy. These regulations increase economic costs to businesses and consumers alike and enrich well-connected special interests. The Rio Grande Foundation has compiled a list of regulations that should be eliminated or at least modified in ways that liberalize markets. Most of these regulations are economic in nature, but some of these regulations are simply silly and place unnecessary burdens on those looking to run for the Legislature (as one example). It is often said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. One area where this is true is in the area of government regulations. New Mexico suffers from overregulation of its economy. These regulations increase economic costs to businesses and consumers alike and enrich well-connected special interests. The Rio Grande Foundation has compiled a list of regulations that should be eliminated or at least modified in ways that liberalize markets. Most of these regulations are economic in nature, but some of these regulations are simply silly and place unnecessary burdens on those looking to run for the Legislature (as one example).

Notably, deregulation is not a partisan issue; at least it has not been during recent U.S. history. President Carter and Congress deregulated the airline, freight rail, and trucking industries, as well as the micro-brew industry that has spawned an entire new craft beer market in the last decade.⁴

Every day for the next several weeks, the Rio Grande Foundation will be E-mailing its "Burdensome Regulation of the Day." Our hope is that as we approach the 2013 legislative session, policymakers in Santa Fe and around the state – many of our proposals are not targeted at the Legislature – will consider addressing these issues in ways that make New Mexico more attractive to businesses and entrepreneurs while encouraging the spirit of free and open competition that has been so integral to the fabric of American life and economic growth.

Unlike so many other economic development schemes, these regulators issues can be addressed without any cost to taxpayers. If there are "costs" associated with demolishing these regulations, they come from removing privileges given by government to special interests. Those benefits will, in turn, accumulate to the population at large instead.

¹The Economist, "Greek Americans?" July 30, 2011, http://www.economist.com/node/21524887

²The Huffington Post, "How New Mexico, Poorest State in America, Fights Poverty," September 13, 2012, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/13/new-mexico-poverty-rates_n_1881321.html

³Employment Highlights, Albuquerque Journal, Business Journal, October 22, 2012

⁴William L. Anderson, "Rethinking Carter," Mises Daily, October 25, 2000, http://mises.org/daily/535