[That's easy. They hate it, e.g.:]
Business Roundtable Press Releases Released: 4.29.02
White House Study Reveals Tort System’s Harm To America’s Workers And Consumers
Individuals bear brunt of $180 billion cost through higher prices, lower wages, report finds
Washington, DC - At a Business Roundtable (BRT) meeting today, the Chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisors released a study that sheds new light on who pays the cost of excessive litigation in the United States. According to the study, up to $136 billion in annual tort costs are “economically excessive,” and American workers, consumers and investors bear the burden of an expensive and inefficient liability system through higher prices, lower wages, and decreased returns to investment, as well as lower levels of innovation.
“This important study adds credence to calls for wide-ranging changes to America’s civil justice system,” said BRT President John J. Castellani. “The extent of the tort tax illustrates why a substantial majority of Americans believe the current liability system needs major reform.”
The study, released by Dr. Glenn Hubbard, predicts that the total cost of the tort system in the future will likely be greater than the $180 billion estimated in 2000. “The trends are ominous,” Castellani added. “Litigation costs are rising along every dimension. In some states, class action lawsuits have increased 1,000 percent over the past 10 years.” The BRT is currently urging Congress to pass class action reform legislation that closes the legal loopholes that have made state court systems choice locations of frivolous suits.
Other noteworthy findings of the study, entitled “Who Pays for Tort Liability Claims? An Economic Analysis of the U.S. Tort Liability System,” include:
--The U.S. civil liability system is the most expensive in the world, more than double the average cost of other industrialized nations.
--Studies are likely to substantially underestimate the economic cost of the U.S. tort system by as much as $50 billion due to distortions in production and consumption decisions.
--The $136 billion excessive cost of the U.S. tort system would be equivalent to a 2 percent tax on consumption, a 3 percent tax on wages, or a 5 percent tax on capital income.
--Only 20 percent of direct tort costs actually go to claimants for economic damages, such as lost wages or medical expenses.
--58 percent of the total annual cost of tort is due to administrative expenses and legal fees.
<http://www.businessroundtable.org/newsroom/document.aspx?qs=55D6BF807822B0F1ED7409167F75A70478252>
Carl