Quote:
Originally posted by Sexual Harassment Panda
What happens when rules imposed to protect the health of workers or consumers act to decrease competition? At what point do rules intended to prevent fraud become anti-competitive?
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Rules that are imposed to protect the health of the worker or consumers almost always decrease competition. Same with rules against fraud. They take priority over competition. But when the rules are applied they should be applied with the idea of effecting competition the least.
The main problem is when the government tries to pick winners and losers in an industry. That is what needs to be prevented. If the government looks after the well being of the consumer then they almost never go wrong.
It is when the government tries to protect producers you get into trouble.
Price controls, subsidies, over regulation, almost always screw the consumers for the benefit of a producer who usually has a lot of lobbyists in Washington.
