a thoughtful web.
Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking.   Login or Take a Tour!
comment
wasoxygen  ·  3060 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Professionals, your time is up, prepare to be sidelined by tech

I have probably disagreed with you more than anyone else on the site, but now and then you say something with which I could not agree more.

    an ever increasing arms race ... that ends up being very profitable for the banks

When we see social problems, it's common to expect government to make it better. That's their job, right? That may even be their intention, but intentions and results are two different things.

Responsible regulators know that it is possible to mess things up by interfering. To tread carefully, they might seek advice before acting. Who do they seek advice from? The experts, of course: the largest, most-connected industry insiders. (Sometimes the regulator saves a step by being an industry insider.) Even if they do not seek advice, special interests have incentive to lobby for favorable legislation, while the negative effects are too broadly spread to attract organized dissent.

The result, too often, is regulation that benefits the best-connected insider, at the expense of their competition, customers, taxpayers — everyone else. So when you suggest that we regulate marketing drugs, regulate wages, regulate real estate investment, regulate corporate finance, regulate Amazon, regulate farming, regulate legal financing, regulate horse shit, you may well be advocating for the entrenchment and perpetuation of these special interests and their unfair advantages.