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by pc86 1471 days ago
Are you saying that capitalism means completely open, zero regulation, zero licensure markets? Because it absolutely does not. It means (among other things) a competitive market with minimal information asymmetries between producer and consumer. Regulation can at time help this, e.g. requiring information disclosure, or preventing monopolistic practices.

Just because a lot of regulations are bad (or enforced poorly) and some licenses are onerous does not mean "regulation === bad" or "licensure === bad."
2 comments
Natsu 1471 days ago
You're arguing against an extreme position I have not advocated for.

But when bad regulations cause bad outcomes, it's pretty weird to focus the blame on the people warning that bad regulations can cause bad outcomes instead of how the regulations are flawed and whether they can be fixed.

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ROTMetro 1471 days ago
If your intent is to capture the market so that you can set the price, that is not capitalism. If licenses are limited, then the amount any one business can own should be limited. Having the ability and using it to artificially limit competition is called a cartel and should be illegal in the USA. An artificial limit on the amount of competition allowed <> capitalism.

See taxi medallions. Another example for a long time would have been FAA approval of new aircraft type certificates and the requirements creating a huge barrier for entry to get them that artificially prevented competition.

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