Regulations

Mark Lacter, in Los Angeles magazine not generally regarded as a right wing magazine, describes the regulatory problems in the City of Los Angeles with regard to establishing any kind of a new business.  It does not fall much short of what Mario Vargas Llosa described in Peru in his classic The Other Path .  The blessing of the USA is that the bureaucrats do not, mostly, take bribes.  Apparently they love power more than money.  This is very much a lesser evil, and I hope the Latino immigrants flocking here understand the importance of this.  But it is not a good thing.  I may have broken with certain conservatives on some tax issues, but regulation is another matter.  It works like a fly swatter.  The effect of a fly swatter on my behind is a little sting.  The effect of a fly swatter on the behind of a fly is that the fly dies.  Similarly, big and established business can shrug off costly regulation.  The small entrepreneurs, who we claim to love in this country, face its full burden.

And I, as a Swede, can think of an even worse scenario.  Most of the public distrust about government, especially in the younger generations, has been directed against elected officials.  The officials described in this article are mostly unelected.  And because they do not take bribes or political contributions, they are more trusted and unquestioned by the public at large – at least the public that isn’t trying to start a small business – than the elected officials.  This may be changing as public sentiment begins to turn against the public sector unions and their irresponsibly large pensions and privileges.  I would plead with the younger generations; if you distrust elected officials, you’re responsible, because you either voted for them or stayed home.  But give a thought to the unelected officials; it is they who really run your lives!

PS: it’s time for another shameless plug for the Institute for Justice, www.ij.org, the nearest thing we have in America to a Small Business Civil Liberties Union.

Related: “The Tale of the Tape” by Mark Lacter at LAMag.com

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