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I find it interesting that line three of your post decries regulatory capture, while line four decries deregulation. I think it points to how much of a problem

I find it interesting that line three of your post decries regulatory capture, while line four decries deregulation. I think it points to how much of a problem we actually have - we don't want complete deregulation, but the regulations we do end up getting often end up just making it worse. It's pretty disheartening.

tankenmate 15y ago
Most companies have two strategies when it comes to regulation: 1. Fight any regulation. 2. Fight good regulations.
- cobrausn 15y ago
  3. Infiltrate regulatory agency. It's sad, but members of an industry are usually the most qualified people to be in a regulatory agency for that industry. Their expertise makes them good for the job, but the conflict of interest is easy to see. The solution is not.
  - cpeterso 15y ago
    4. Lobby for self-serving, anti-competitive regulations.
    - lancewiggs 15y ago
      and the saddest thing of all is that this four step plan has worked so effectively for US corporations.
roc 15y ago
Point three is very much about deregulation in industries enjoying regulatory capture. Wall Street is quick to decry regulations that bar it from doing what it wants. But it's just as quick to protect those regulations that keep competitors out. The regulatory problem really is just one of capture. "Business-crippling regulations" are up there with Reagan's Welfare Queen, Ohio's voter fraud and Tax Cuts' job-creating stimulus credentials. That is: long accepted as political fact despite a complete lack of evidence of their existence and a continually growing pile of evidence against.
- cobrausn 15y ago
  I'm not dogmatic about these kinds of things - I will support anything that has a strong body of evidence supporting it (with the caveat that rights don't get violated). Regulations are not sacrosanct - there are bad ones and good ones, and sometimes deregulation kills the bad ones, in which case it should be supported. Sometimes it's just regulatory capture in action, as you said, in which case it needs to be stopped.

tankenmate 15y ago

Most companies have two strategies when it comes to regulation: 1. Fight any regulation. 2. Fight good regulations.

cobrausn 15y ago
3. Infiltrate regulatory agency. It's sad, but members of an industry are usually the most qualified people to be in a regulatory agency for that industry. Their expertise makes them good for the job, but the conflict of interest is easy to see. The solution is not.
- cpeterso 15y ago
  4. Lobby for self-serving, anti-competitive regulations.
  - lancewiggs 15y ago
    and the saddest thing of all is that this four step plan has worked so effectively for US corporations.

roc 15y ago

Point three is very much about deregulation in industries enjoying regulatory capture. Wall Street is quick to decry regulations that bar it from doing what it wants. But it's just as quick to protect those regulations that keep competitors out. The regulatory problem really is just one of capture. "Business-crippling regulations" are up there with Reagan's Welfare Queen, Ohio's voter fraud and Tax Cuts' job-creating stimulus credentials. That is: long accepted as political fact despite a complete lack of evidence of their existence and a continually growing pile of evidence against.

cobrausn 15y ago
I'm not dogmatic about these kinds of things - I will support anything that has a strong body of evidence supporting it (with the caveat that rights don't get violated). Regulations are not sacrosanct - there are bad ones and good ones, and sometimes deregulation kills the bad ones, in which case it should be supported. Sometimes it's just regulatory capture in action, as you said, in which case it needs to be stopped.