[ataggart]

>I will drink a toast to the day the last auto dealership goes out of business.

Unfortunately, manufacturers are prohibited from selling directly to consumers in many states. As usual, scratch below the surface of a "market failure", and you're likely to find some regulation getting in the way.

[semanticist]

It might be worth asking why the regulations exist. Scratch below the surface of "red tape" and you're likely to find some regulatory capture and incumbents buying laws to stop competition.

[dforrestwilson1]

^ This. Here is a good Planet Money episode about it.

http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2013/02/12/171814201/episo...

[TeMPOraL]

Look at that regulation a little closer, and you may find a reason it was created.

Doesn't mean the particular piece of regulation is helpful nowadays, but also doesn't immediately mean it isn't.

[r00fus]

And what money funded the writing of those regulations?

It's purely the end-game of capitalism - if not constrained, it will subvert political systems to install it's cronies, capture regulatory agencies and buy legislation.

A government that doesn't regulate money's interaction with politics will end up representing only capital-owners.