Regulations CREATE jobs

It's time to talk about a common fallacy in regulations. We're often told that regulations destroy jobs, that if we regulate industries the jobs won't follow. But historically, many of the environmental and safety standards unions fought for did the opposite. They created entire industries of skilled labor, from pollution control systems to infrastructure upgrades.

When corporations are required to meet higher standards, someone has to design, build, and maintain those systems. That means more work for skilled trades and union labor.

Regulations don’t just create work. They also shift the burden of paying for impacts from the public back to the corporation, where it belongs. So why is the debate being framed the opposite way today?