Regulatory Monstrosity

~~ Lau Vegys, Doug Casey’s Crisis Investing

The federal government is out of control.

If you’ve been with us for a while, that’s not exactly news to you. But if you ever needed a visual to show someone who doesn’t get it, here’s one. Take a look at this week’s chart below—it shows the relentless growth of federal regulations over the past 70+ years.

This monstrosity has ballooned from under 10,000 pages in 1950 to a staggering 190,260 pages by 2023. That’s thousands upon thousands of pages of rules, dictates, and mandates, crafted by unelected bureaucrats, cramming their tentacles into every nook and cranny of American life and business.

And the costs are staggering. According to a report by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, federal regulations cost the U.S. economy $2.1 trillion per year. That’s an invisible tax of about $15,000 per household. And guess who shoulders this burden? That’s right—the American consumer, worker, and entrepreneur.

Now, if you remember, $2 trillion also happens to be the amount needed to balance the budget today—and it’s the same figure Musk himself claimed he could cut from federal spending through his DOGE initiative (the Department of Government Efficiency).

Of course, as I mentioned in a piece last month, DOGE isn’t an actual government department. It’s just a Federal Advisory Committee with no real power to act directly (except to provide recommendations and advice to the President and federal agencies).

So, as much as I’d love to see a smaller government, a reduced deficit, and a less expensive foreign policy (all desperately needed given the state of U.S. finances), I’m not holding my breath for DOGE to deliver these changes.

Still, whether it succeeds or not, the goal is undeniably noble.

Because this regulatory explosion you see above isn’t just about the economic toll. It’s about lost freedoms, crushed innovation, and the constant distortions it forces on the market. Every new page added to this monster is another blow to liberty, another barrier for hard-working Americans, and another chain on the invisible hand.

Have a great rest of the weekend!

Lau Vegys

~~ Lau Vegys, Doug Casey’s Crisis Investing

The federal government is out of control.

Still, whether it succeeds or not, the goal is undeniably noble.

Have a great rest of the weekend!

Lau Vegys

SpaceX is the most valuable private startup in history — and if its success continues, it might become the most valuable public company in history.

After all, as Musk famously said in 2023, “I have never lost money for those who invest in me and I am not starting now.”

For investors, SpaceX has been a wild, joyful ride — and now the journey continues!

The Supreme Court voted 6–3 to block President Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose his “Liberation Day” tariffs.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that the Constitution grants tariff authority to Congress alone. Justices Thomas, Alito, and Kavanaugh dissented.

The case centered on Trump’s 10% global tariff and the higher reciprocal tariffs layered on select trading partners. Oral arguments were heard in November. The Court concluded that IEEPA did not authorize such broad tariff power.

A concurrent research paper from the New York Fed concluded that American consumers bear most of the tariff cost.

Early February brought a sharp sell-off in SaaS and AI infrastructure names. Some high-growth software stocks fell as much as 80% from prior peaks.

Retail investors, duly trained by Wall Street’s sell-side, stepped in “buy the dip” in “software as a service” (SaaS).

According to Global Markets Investor, U.S. dominance peaked in late 2024. The relative line has trended downward for fifteen months. Leadership has dispersed. Even though we’ve been writing about the alarming, historic, high concentration in the Mag 7 at the very top of the indexes, large amounts of capital moved before the financial media headlines caught up.