> My comparison is simply to show the standard laissez faire talking point of "oh, regulation exists just to protect incumbent market players" as bullshit: regulations exist to protect consumers from negligence and misbehaviour on the part of the companies.
You present a false dichotomy here. As much as the GP is wrong for boldly asserting the negative as fact, you are wrong for just as boldly asserting the opposite, without allowing for the panoply of options that inevitably arise from the point a regulation is conceived to the point that it is enacted. During the process of drafting the legislation, at least here in America, the existing players have a voice on the legislation's course, and the larger the existing player is, the louder their voice gets to be.
> During the process of drafting the legislation, at least here in America, the existing players have a voice on the legislation's course, and the larger the existing player is, the louder their voice gets to be.
Sounds like you need campaign finance and lobbying regulations. ;-)
You present a false dichotomy here. As much as the GP is wrong for boldly asserting the negative as fact, you are wrong for just as boldly asserting the opposite, without allowing for the panoply of options that inevitably arise from the point a regulation is conceived to the point that it is enacted. During the process of drafting the legislation, at least here in America, the existing players have a voice on the legislation's course, and the larger the existing player is, the louder their voice gets to be.