Regulation and big business

One of the ways in which big business and its pals in government conspire against small businesses and ordinary people is by manipulating the regulatory environment.

Oligopoly Watch asks why large corporations in the US are asking the Government for more regulation. Part of the answer is that:

[w]hat big corporations want is for the federal government to set standards that will overrule even tougher state standards. These has been a rise in regulation from a growing number of states, led by California, to make up for the gaps in regulation presided over the Bush administration, which has systematically weakened rules and defunded regulatory agencies.

As well, though, regulations can be used as unfair, non-tariff barriers to trade:

[W]hy is Altria (Philip Morris) calling for the regulations of cigarettes and General Electric and Phillips joining to push for more regulation of light bulbs? Pure self-interest, a new strategy in an old war, one of getting the government to help big companies maintain market share. All of the new regulations will be used to set a barrier to entry for smaller (usually Chinese) companies into the market. In these cases, it is easier for the established players to conform to a higher level of regulation....

When I worked in the agricultural policy area I saw a lot of this. In one memorable example involving European Union legislation in the UK:

A snail farmer was told to tile his packing room, which was classed as an abattoir, up to the ceiling to catch the blood. BBC 1 TV Country File 8 February 1998

This sort of thing happens not only because government and big business are inevitably biased against smaller concerns, but also because they are government is more comfortable, and sees a larger role for itself, in regulating processes and activities, rather than outcomes. Ordinary people are the losers.