An interesting piece on compound interest and the effects of regulation:
"America's missing wealth"
"So let's, for the sake of argument, posit that some regulation has been good for us, while many other regs have only hurt economic growth. Let's also argue that sensible regulation, combined with the retirement of outdated regulation, could have brought about the same improvements to health and safetybut at a cost of 1% potential growth per year, not 2%. Where would the U.S. economy be today?
The 2014 GDP would be $32 trillion, not $17 trillion.
Per capita income would be $101,000, not $54,000.
Per capita wealth would be $480,000, not $260,000. It would probably be higher than that, since savings rates might be higher.
The U.S. would have no federal, state or municipal debts or deficits.
Pensions would be solid. So would Social Security.
The trend of new entrants to The Forbes 400 would not favor entrepreneurs in software, the Internet and financial services but would be more broadly distributed across all industries. Electronic bitsmoney and softwareare less prone to regulation than such physical things as factories, transportation, etc.
Faster, quieter successors to the supersonic Concorde? Cheap, safe nuclear power? Cancer-curing drugs for small populations? Bullet trains financed by private investors? Yes!
The U.S. would have the resources to fight the multiplicity of threats from abroad, from ISIS to hackers.
Am I guilty of positing ideal outcomes from all that extra wealth? Perhaps. Still, it would be wonderful to have that extra wealth in people's pockets and in government treasuries. What a missed opportunity!
Let's start electing people who are pledged to rethink regulation. This might sound like a conservative partisan plea. It's not. John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clintontwo Democrats and a Republicanwere the best Presidents since 1949 regarding regulation (by "best" I mean that these three Presidents allowed regulation to grow the least). The three worst: Harry Truman, George W. Bush and Barack Obama."
http://www.forbes.com/sites/richkarlgaa ... ng-wealth/
Of course wealth not created is invisible. But even a 1% drop has incredible consequences. The power of free people to get things done and the wealth they create overwhelms any regulated rationing state.