Describe some negative and positive reasons for government regulation of business.

Answer 1

Prior to the twentieth century, there was almost no regulation of business, except for a few agricultural products, and those regulations concerned economic factors (import/export). As business became mechanized, workers and consumers needed protection from an increasingly depersonalized society. Regulation requires that businesses operate within certain restrictions for the health and safety of workers and consumers. Every regulation ever written was at the request of someone who wanted it. Whether it was wanted for the public good, or to stifle the activities of a competitor, someone lobbied for the regulation. Unfortunately, regulations can become obsolete or overly onerous causing an undue burden on the market. The implementation and repeal of all regulations should be handled with a scalpel, not a hatchet.

Answer 2

Hi Jeffrey,

Thank you for your question. This topic is very important and it has been debated for decades. To help point you in the right direction, here are a few examples in favor and against government regulation of businesses.

In Favor: Government regulation of businesses sets standards, procedures, and protections against environmental hazards, intellectual property theft, illegal arms trade, human trafficking, discriminatory banking practices, consumer protection, privacy protection, safe food and prescription drugs, as well as many others.

Against: Government overregulation of businesses can lead to disruption of market economy, increase the cost associated with employment, increases bureaucracy, costly to enforce, could lead to higher tariffs (increasing the cost of imports), and other reasons.

If you need any clarification or need further assistance, let me know and I'll be more than happy to help you out!

Here are some sources that will help point you in the right direction:

• https://regproject.org/paper/government-regulation-the-good-the-bad-the-ugly/

• https://www.cfr.org/blog/morning-brief-nyc-rocked-subways-controlled-blast

• https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/07/three-cheers-for-regulation/

• https://www.heritage.org/government-regulation/report/how-regulation-destroying-american-jobs

• https://www.ced.org/reports/regulation-and-the-economy

• https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/too-many-laws-too-much-regulation

• https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/regulating-sharing-economy/