Tuesday, October 25, 2011

For Those Who Think We Aren't Yet Regulated Enough...

Let's read what Gallup has learned:
Small-business owners in the United States are most likely to say complying with government regulations (22%) is the most important problem facing them today, followed by consumer confidence in the economy (15%) and lack of consumer demand (12%).

Rounding out small-business owners' top five problems in the Oct. 3-6 Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index poll is lack of credit at 10% and poor leadership by government and the president at 9%.
As the Estonian Economics Minister was quoted as saying in this article in the German magazine Spiegel:
If all you do is administer, nothing comes of it. The state must clear the way for those who want to achieve something. That's the function of the state.
You don't clear the way by adding more regulatory hurdles. It's sad that in this country that's considered a "conservative" viewpoint.

1 comment:

mmazenko said...

It depends on the industry, and clearing the way depending on exactly what it is that "those who want to achieve."

Clearly, the easing of the Glass-Stegal regulation led to the reckless financing that caused the industry crash. Easing mortgage and finance regulations was not a positive in this case. Greenspan argues that he eased fiscal policy too much. And, of course, out here in Colorado, we now know that easing the regulation of cantoulope growing has led to the death of 30 people. Easing of regulations for hiring farm and construction labor has exacerbated the immigration problem. I'm sure we could use some stricter regulations on earning a teaching certificate and retaining non-probationary standards.

So, clearly, it's not a simple matter of whether we are "regulated enough." And it's more of a libertarian standpoint than conservative.