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Can you cite examples of any industry or niche , anywhere in the world, that was newly regulated, and once regulation tool place, prices materially dropped? Ge
by IG_Semmelweiss 2y ago
Can you cite examples of any industry or niche , anywhere in the world, that was newly regulated, and once regulation tool place, prices materially dropped?
Geniuinely curious.
- jonahhorowitz 2y agoWhen California re-regulated the wholesale energy markets after the Enron debacle. Source: https://www.apep.uci.edu/PDF_Research_Summaries/Impact_Of_Electricity_Deregulation_In_The_State_Of_California_102119_719am.pdf https://www.apep.uci.edu/PDF_Research_Summaries/Impact_Of_El...
- pixelatedindex 2y agoAnd now CA has gone full circle with how PG&E rules the roost over here. Outside of a few places, it’s very much a monopoly.
- nicoburns 2y agoCard payments are regulated in the EU, and prices are much cheaper. Contrast that with New Zealand where there is often a 2.5% surcharge on credit card and contactless payments.
- bald42 2y agoPhone roaming in EU. You pay your normal home fares now for voice/data instead of the former massive roaming surcharges.
- TylerE 2y agoInternet access after the telcos were forced to share their last mile fibre?
- NohatCoder 2y agoTelephone roaming charges in the EU.
- nickpsecurity 2y agoEverything about regulating Big Telecom. They didn’t want to run lines to people, drop long distance, increase broadband speed, etc. Each time, the behavior was countered by regulation or the threat of it. Splitting MA Bell into the Baby Bells also helped for a while. Then, they started merging back together. Then, the oligopolies made service worse again. If left on their own, they collude to do a minimum form of competition while cooperating on profitable ways to cheat customers. That’s called cartels. It’s as big a threat to the free market as governments.
- dantheman 2y agoWhat are you talking about - that is deregulation. This was a government granted monopoly - you don't get more regulated than that.
- nickpsecurity 2y agoThey broke a private company into many competing companies. Then, at various times, they forced the companies to serve customers in ways they were simply unwilling to. They’d tell lies why it couldn’t be done. After regulation or threat of it, they rapidly accomplished what they previously couldn’t. A recent example that isn’t regulation so much as revealing was Google Fiber vs established telecoms. The established companies had low speeds on purpose in many areas. They couldn’t do better. After Google Fiber hit, we’d sometimes see a comparable offering show up in just that area very quickly. As in, they could’ve done it the whole time but refused to soak up more profit. That’s the kind of abuse that regulation is supposed to deal with. Whereas, the breakup was using regulation to force the companies to operate like a free market. That’s often necessary because the companies will make more profit if they collude to cheat customers. Or workers as we saw in the wage scheme in Silicon Valley.