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Old July 16th, 2009 #53
Mike Parker
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 3,311
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There's something to all this but this is not a very good argument:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick Ronsavelle View Post
The Clayton Antitrust Act and the Federal Reserve Act? Most businessmen supported them to better protect themselves from antitrust prosecution under the Sherman Act's vague provisions or (among smaller businesses) to gain such advantages as enforced "fair trade price-fixing."
That they prefer one type of regulation to another doesn't mean they want regulation.

Quote:
Thus, Kolko shows that whether for protection from competition or from the government, businesses themselves initiated or shaped these Progressive Era reforms and others that most Americans regard as being part of an anti-business (or at least not pro-business) reform movement.
Again, two very different points. It's good business to see which way the political wind is blowing and try to make it more tolerable. IIRC that's what Wall Street did with the SEC, hence regulation of disclosure only. But that doesn't quite prove that business is the cause of the regulatory state. I'd look at the media more carefully.