7 ms·

How about we say: Some regulations are good, some are bad. This seems like a really good one :)

TAForObvReasons 9y ago
Every regulation was enacted with specific circumstances in mind. If you think a particular regulation is bad, try to look into the history and see why it was relevant in the first place.
- conanbatt 9y ago
  So has every enacted crime.
- drefanzor 9y ago
  Are you a lobbyist? You realize regulations are created all the time because a company pushed for it to benefit the most, right? Some are good. Some are bad. Like everything in this world.
- dexterdog 9y ago
  Being enacted doesn't mean it was ever relevant.
  - cryptonector 9y ago
    What?! Don't you just blindly trust bureaucrats and politicians?! Say it ain't so dexterdog! More seriously, there are loads of bad regulations that were never good to begin with. Of course there would be. Motivations vary from do-gooding to incompetence to corruption, and if you believe this is impossible then I've got a bridge to sell you. And there are loads of bad regulations that are bad just because they are no longer necessary or relevant. Of course there would be.
    - MrLeap 9y ago
      So many problems are caused by the paradox of the human predator. Tools to protect against the human predator are always eventually used as a tool OF the human predator. Day 1: you create a regulation to stop some company from forcing employees to put their hands in a running wood chipper. Hurray, one predatory person has been stopped. Day 2: A predator by hook and crook lobbies for a regulation to give them a competitive advantage. Day 50: We've got 50 sincerely conceived regulations and 50 predatory regulations. Regulatory work has accelerated as the state has gotten better at it. Quite a few of the sincerely created regulations are meant to mitigate problems caused by the predatory ones! A call is sounded for deregulation. Day 51: 35 regulations are thrown out based on lobbyist pressure and "grass root" campaigns. Day 52: A company sends out a memo: "Due to the extra maintenance costs of hard stopping our wood chipper, we ask you now always leave it running. If it stalls on something the policy remains unchanged otherwise: pull it out." It's an eternal arms race and I think the predators win almost always. We can't recognize or disarm them as faster than they can use our own methods and tools against us. As far as I can tell, oppose consolidation of power and work to never surrender leverage over yourself.
      - cryptonector 9y ago
        You continue to assume that the regulators only ever write good regulations (good for the time when they produce them).
        MrLeap 9y ago
        I disagree. Read day 2.
- yeukhon 9y ago
  I have to concur with parent in some circumstances. I was looking up what are some weird regulations. I didn't find much, perhaps I was not using the right terms. But this one strikes me: License to Close a Business [1]. When it comes to protecting consumers, for example, regulations are generally not bad. Some regulations have been removed because some people want "efficiency" - and again, we have to pick the circumstance. Too much regulations (getting permits from 10 different agencies is slow) can drive up the cost (more application fees, higher construction cost due to delay), but too little or too lax can do harm. We all face this at work as software engineers... [1]: https://wislawjournal.com/2010/11/03/regulations-show-courts-have-duty-to-protect-economic-liberty/ https://wislawjournal.com/2010/11/03/regulations-show-courts...
  - runako 9y ago
    That regulation sounded outlandish, so I read the article. The article is obviously anti-regulation, but even in context it's obvious that a) this is possible not a license to close a business but instead b) is quite possibly a regulation intended to prevent stores from having fake "GOING OUT OF BUSINESS" sales every couple of quarters, misleading consumers into making suboptimal decisions. Based solely on what's in the article, it wouldn't apply to businesses that don't carry inventory, notably services businesses.
    - TAForObvReasons 9y ago
      Closest ordinance i could find from a cursory search: https://library.municode.com/wi/wauwatosa/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TIT6BULIRE_CH6.88CLTSA https://library.municode.com/wi/wauwatosa/codes/code_of_ordi... > Every person shall obtain a closing-out license before conducting a closing-out sale
      - yeukhon 9y ago
        Here is the full text: http://city.milwaukee.gov/ImageLibrary/Groups/ccClerk/Ordinances/Volume-1/CH88.pdf http://city.milwaukee.gov/ImageLibrary/Groups/ccClerk/Ordina...
    - 9y ago
- Alupis 9y ago
  > Every regulation was enacted with specific circumstances in mind. It's better said, that every regulation was enacted with good intentions... whether or not the result is good or bad is something entirely different.
  - WillPostForFood 9y ago
    I'm the incumbent business in some area, I lobby for regulations that I can afford to pay, but makes it too expensive for potential competitors to get into the business. http://braidingfreedom.com/braiding-initiative/standing-up-for-natural-hair-braiders-right-to-earn-an-honest-living/ http://braidingfreedom.com/braiding-initiative/standing-up-f... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture
    - Alupis 9y ago
      I doubt you vocalize your goal of driving competitors out of business when lobbying for some new regulation. You don't personally enact regulations... those who do are the ones with the good intentions. To them, the regulations seem sensible and net-good... no matter how misguided it might happen to be.
- criddell 9y ago
  I agree with you. I think it's also worth reviewing regulations periodically to see if they still make sense. For example, a few years ago when Uber moved into Sarasota, the taxi companies complained. The city did something remarkable - they eliminated the regulations that Uber wasn't complying with. AFAIK, there really haven't been any negative consequences.
  - Scipio_Afri 9y ago
    You mean other than the externalities of running the business that Uber places on its drivers through them being contractors, using their own cars (no benefits, drivers pay for wear & tear and gas).
    - criddell 9y ago
      I don't believe the regulations that were repealed addressed any of that.
  - vkou 9y ago
    > AFAIK, there really haven't been any negative consequences. None at all? Not a single one? Did Uber pinky swear this?
threatofrain 9y ago
I can also imagine that the same regulations enacted under a different administration, region, historical or technological context can have different consequences. It's natural to imagine that for such large systems, it's controlled by a little more than a few simple variable. But unfortunately, the levers and knobs that the population sees is something along the lines of low / high government and taxes.
icantdrive55 9y ago
I don't mind regulations. Actually, business just regulation. We have way too many municipal codes that just seem to harass the poor, and homeless. In California, there's only one place I know of that person could legally camp for free. It's located in Imperial County. It's just a small patch of desert land, that's ownder by a teachers union? Supposedly, they don't mind squatters. My point is when you have no back-up, and life becomes very grey; a cop shouldn't have so many municipal codes to throw at you. Hell, if Jesus Christ reappeared, he would probally be in some jail in a few weeks. Sleeping in a park. Fishing without a license. Donkey in city limits. Lady saw him naked whike baptizing someone in the creek--indecent exposure. Add on something lewd--because she was with her kids. Oh yea, that creek was a federally protected creek. Write up another citation. "Oh yea, let's 51-50 him. He claims to be the Son of God." I would like to tie fees/fines to income though. So many large companies, wealthy business owners, love regulations/requirements. It just prevents competition.

Every regulation was enacted with specific circumstances in mind. If you think a particular regulation is bad, try to look into the history and see why it was relevant in the first place.

conanbatt 9y ago
So has every enacted crime.
drefanzor 9y ago
Are you a lobbyist? You realize regulations are created all the time because a company pushed for it to benefit the most, right? Some are good. Some are bad. Like everything in this world.
dexterdog 9y ago
Being enacted doesn't mean it was ever relevant.
- cryptonector 9y ago
  What?! Don't you just blindly trust bureaucrats and politicians?! Say it ain't so dexterdog! More seriously, there are loads of bad regulations that were never good to begin with. Of course there would be. Motivations vary from do-gooding to incompetence to corruption, and if you believe this is impossible then I've got a bridge to sell you. And there are loads of bad regulations that are bad just because they are no longer necessary or relevant. Of course there would be.
  - MrLeap 9y ago
    So many problems are caused by the paradox of the human predator. Tools to protect against the human predator are always eventually used as a tool OF the human predator. Day 1: you create a regulation to stop some company from forcing employees to put their hands in a running wood chipper. Hurray, one predatory person has been stopped. Day 2: A predator by hook and crook lobbies for a regulation to give them a competitive advantage. Day 50: We've got 50 sincerely conceived regulations and 50 predatory regulations. Regulatory work has accelerated as the state has gotten better at it. Quite a few of the sincerely created regulations are meant to mitigate problems caused by the predatory ones! A call is sounded for deregulation. Day 51: 35 regulations are thrown out based on lobbyist pressure and "grass root" campaigns. Day 52: A company sends out a memo: "Due to the extra maintenance costs of hard stopping our wood chipper, we ask you now always leave it running. If it stalls on something the policy remains unchanged otherwise: pull it out." It's an eternal arms race and I think the predators win almost always. We can't recognize or disarm them as faster than they can use our own methods and tools against us. As far as I can tell, oppose consolidation of power and work to never surrender leverage over yourself.
    - cryptonector 9y ago
      You continue to assume that the regulators only ever write good regulations (good for the time when they produce them).
      - MrLeap 9y ago
        I disagree. Read day 2.
yeukhon 9y ago
I have to concur with parent in some circumstances. I was looking up what are some weird regulations. I didn't find much, perhaps I was not using the right terms. But this one strikes me: License to Close a Business [1]. When it comes to protecting consumers, for example, regulations are generally not bad. Some regulations have been removed because some people want "efficiency" - and again, we have to pick the circumstance. Too much regulations (getting permits from 10 different agencies is slow) can drive up the cost (more application fees, higher construction cost due to delay), but too little or too lax can do harm. We all face this at work as software engineers... [1]: https://wislawjournal.com/2010/11/03/regulations-show-courts-have-duty-to-protect-economic-liberty/ https://wislawjournal.com/2010/11/03/regulations-show-courts...
- runako 9y ago
  That regulation sounded outlandish, so I read the article. The article is obviously anti-regulation, but even in context it's obvious that a) this is possible not a license to close a business but instead b) is quite possibly a regulation intended to prevent stores from having fake "GOING OUT OF BUSINESS" sales every couple of quarters, misleading consumers into making suboptimal decisions. Based solely on what's in the article, it wouldn't apply to businesses that don't carry inventory, notably services businesses.
  - TAForObvReasons 9y ago
    Closest ordinance i could find from a cursory search: https://library.municode.com/wi/wauwatosa/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TIT6BULIRE_CH6.88CLTSA https://library.municode.com/wi/wauwatosa/codes/code_of_ordi... > Every person shall obtain a closing-out license before conducting a closing-out sale
    - yeukhon 9y ago
      Here is the full text: http://city.milwaukee.gov/ImageLibrary/Groups/ccClerk/Ordinances/Volume-1/CH88.pdf http://city.milwaukee.gov/ImageLibrary/Groups/ccClerk/Ordina...
  - 9y ago
Alupis 9y ago
> Every regulation was enacted with specific circumstances in mind. It's better said, that every regulation was enacted with good intentions... whether or not the result is good or bad is something entirely different.
- WillPostForFood 9y ago
  I'm the incumbent business in some area, I lobby for regulations that I can afford to pay, but makes it too expensive for potential competitors to get into the business. http://braidingfreedom.com/braiding-initiative/standing-up-for-natural-hair-braiders-right-to-earn-an-honest-living/ http://braidingfreedom.com/braiding-initiative/standing-up-f... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture
  - Alupis 9y ago
    I doubt you vocalize your goal of driving competitors out of business when lobbying for some new regulation. You don't personally enact regulations... those who do are the ones with the good intentions. To them, the regulations seem sensible and net-good... no matter how misguided it might happen to be.
criddell 9y ago
I agree with you. I think it's also worth reviewing regulations periodically to see if they still make sense. For example, a few years ago when Uber moved into Sarasota, the taxi companies complained. The city did something remarkable - they eliminated the regulations that Uber wasn't complying with. AFAIK, there really haven't been any negative consequences.
- Scipio_Afri 9y ago
  You mean other than the externalities of running the business that Uber places on its drivers through them being contractors, using their own cars (no benefits, drivers pay for wear & tear and gas).
  - criddell 9y ago
    I don't believe the regulations that were repealed addressed any of that.
- vkou 9y ago
  > AFAIK, there really haven't been any negative consequences. None at all? Not a single one? Did Uber pinky swear this?

threatofrain 9y ago

I can also imagine that the same regulations enacted under a different administration, region, historical or technological context can have different consequences. It's natural to imagine that for such large systems, it's controlled by a little more than a few simple variable. But unfortunately, the levers and knobs that the population sees is something along the lines of low / high government and taxes.

icantdrive55 9y ago

I don't mind regulations. Actually, business just regulation. We have way too many municipal codes that just seem to harass the poor, and homeless. In California, there's only one place I know of that person could legally camp for free. It's located in Imperial County. It's just a small patch of desert land, that's ownder by a teachers union? Supposedly, they don't mind squatters. My point is when you have no back-up, and life becomes very grey; a cop shouldn't have so many municipal codes to throw at you. Hell, if Jesus Christ reappeared, he would probally be in some jail in a few weeks. Sleeping in a park. Fishing without a license. Donkey in city limits. Lady saw him naked whike baptizing someone in the creek--indecent exposure. Add on something lewd--because she was with her kids. Oh yea, that creek was a federally protected creek. Write up another citation. "Oh yea, let's 51-50 him. He claims to be the Son of God." I would like to tie fees/fines to income though. So many large companies, wealthy business owners, love regulations/requirements. It just prevents competition.