Unsnarling the Red Tape

Abstract: Regulatory complexity is increasingly recognized as an impediment to innovation, institutional responsiveness, and long-run economic growth, with regulatory accumulation estimated to reduce the U.S. GDP growth rate by nearly a full percentage point annually. This paper argues that computational approaches—including knowledge representation, artificial intelligence, natural-language processing, and cryptography—can help reduce forms of regulatory “red tape” by improving efficiency, transparency, and institutional responsiveness. We develop a framework for understanding the sources of regulatory friction and how they can be mitigated to support compliance, analysis, and reform. We further argue that effective modernization requires treating regulation not merely as legal text, but as a complex institutional and informational system that can be partially represented, analyzed, coordinated, and improved computationally while preserving legal legitimacy and procedural accountability