1. People can easily discern possible advantages in prohibiting inferior products, but they cannot imagine the potential benefits of innovative products that never reach the market because of regulation. For instance, it is probable that the side effects of simple aspirin would have prevented it from ever reaching the market in today's environment, yet it clearly provides valuable services for many consumers, including not only pain relief but even some degree of protection against heart attacks. How many other such beneficial products failed to overcome the barriers of regulation in recent decades? How many were never even developed because regulatory costs tend to make such research less profitable? This invisible cost of regulation can be appreciated only if we learn to think about regulation in a conceptual, non-concrete-bound manner. Open Suggested Reading Window
  2. People assume that regulators, in contrast to product marketers, will always have the best of motives for their decisions. Logically, we should not begin by assuming either good or bad motives on the part of regulators. Rather, we should examine how regulators attain and maintain their positions of authority, and then determine whether that process has any implications for how they will tend to use their power. Section 5 will use such an approach.      Next page
Previous pagePrevious Open Review window