On Government Intervention in Industry

It is an unfortunate reality of government that on balance, most government regulation and support for lobbies that seek to protect selected business sectors, inevitably serve the vested interests of those industries alone, and does so to the disadvantage and harm of the public good.

As a general rule, regulations that have the support of selected industries, simply retard the development of competitive technologies that can improve the quality of goods and services in those industries.  Rarely to they seek to improve quality or lower prices.   

Whether in the form of wage or price controls, limits on the use of certain types of resources  or whether (like rent-control) it is regulation that simply serves to maintain a tolerable level of income for current producers - in the end; they generally serve the interests of those who are currently making what for them is an acceptable measure of profit and does so to the detriment of the future of progress and quality of life for society as a whole.