Ken Griffin says Biden-era regulations ‘exhausting’ on American businesses, 'cost the US economy dearly'
Billionaire tells World Economic Forum that regulatory rollback has been 'extraordinary boom for American business'
‘Quite an accomplishment’: Economist calls Trump ‘deregulation president,’ touts ‘big plus’ to economy
Former Reagan economist Art Laffer and Unleash Prosperity co-founder Steve Moore discuss President Donald Trump’s deregulation and tax cut achievements on ‘Kudlow.’
Citadel CEO Ken Griffin sounded off on the impact of the Biden administration's regulatory policies on the U.S. economy, saying that the Trump administration's move to end the "regulatory onslaught" has been a relief to entrepreneurs wanting to grow their businesses.
The billionaire co-founder of Citadel spoke at the World Economic Forum on Wednesday and said the Biden administration's heavy-handed approach to regulation created constant friction for businesses like his firm.
"You cannot imagine how painful it was each and every day under the Biden administration to look at what new crazy proposal was being put into place to solve a problem that didn't even exist," he said.
"Our constant friction at Citadel, with the government across umpteen different aspects of our business, was exhausting, and to have that literally end on one day – Election Day – just gives you so much energy as an entrepreneur to go back and build your damn business," Griffin said.
WALL STREET REVEALS TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDER HAS SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED FEDERAL REGULATORY PRESSURE
Citadel CEO Ken Griffin said American businesses and entrepreneurs are relieved at the end of Biden-era regulatory policies. (Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images)
Griffin added that, "The biggest sea change I've seen, across American executives, has been just the giant sigh of relief – 'I can now go and focus on building my business.'"
He went on to cite an example of how the Biden administration's policies impacted businesses, noting that the Justice Department's move to file an antitrust suit to block the proposed acquisition of Spirit Airlines by JetBlue Airways had a direct impact on his firm.
TRUMP ADMIN LAUNCHES COMPREHENSIVE FEDERAL REVIEW TARGETING STATE LAWS THAT HURT NATIONAL ECONOMY
Griffin said the Trump administration reversing the Biden era's regulatory approach has boosted businesses. (Kevin Dietsch/Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
The DOJ argued that blocking JetBlue's acquisition of Spirit violated antitrust law and would've hurt consumers by leaving them with fewer choices among budget air carriers and higher air fares.
"We happened to be a creditor of Spirit. Their merger with JetBlue was stopped. Spirit's in bankruptcy today," Griffin said.
TRUMP ADMIN MOVING TO ROLL BACK BIDEN-ERA CFPB REGISTRY RULES
The Biden administration opposed JetBlue's acquisition of Spirit on antitrust grounds. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
"There were so many decisions that were so poorly thought out in terms of economic consequences; it cost the U.S. economy dearly, I cannot emphasize that enough," he added.
Griffin said that while the Trump administration's rollback of regulations from the Biden era has progressed slowly so far, the lighter-touch approach to regulatory enforcement has been a boost for U.S. businesses and entrepreneurs since the president returned to the White House a year ago.
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
"The Trump administration is making slow progress on deregulation thus far, but the end of the regulatory onslaught just has been an extraordinary boom for American business," Griffin said.