Why is regulating capitalism a bad thing, without regulation the result is no competition and no capitalism?

Question

or are we really for Big Business, no competition, price fixing, and monopolies.

Mas Tequila:?? You are agreeing with me (and I am a Lawyer and have an Economics Degree)

a world or Wall Marts or Oligarcs is not my idea of "healthy capitalism" or "choice" or "free markets"

Answer 1

Doc and Nightwing,

You are naive. There is a reason we have laws against monopolies, if your are big enough, you can easily stiffle competition. You clearly haven't read history or taken a good look at the world around you.

History also shows that business and professional occupations like doctors and lawyers cannot regulate themselves as it is not in their best interest to do so.

Pure capitalism is not the best model, just as the pure forms of other economic models are not the best. Blends are the best models, they take the best of each model and incorporate it.

Richard - LOL, yes I AM agreeing with you! It is Doc and Nightwing I take issue with. I have an MBA and run two businesses.

Answer 2

Not sure what source your reading from, but when it comes to regulation in the news, i routinely hear about demcrats doing it, and mean for it as a limit to how a company thrives, or putting some limition on it. Or, punishing this big mean company for its pollution or wealth or affiliations.
Generally when it comes to the economy, i take the politics out of it and try to understand why any politition is messing in an area they generally don't know much about and have no business medeling with.
If you limit ingenuity or capitalism, then it doesn't thrive, and if it doesn't thrive, they don't expand, grow or come up with new ideas. Monopolies can be a bad thing, but the market handles that for the most part. There will always be a company that is "on top" because they have much better service, or easier requirements or a better product.
you also kill it inovatively becasue why should someone do their best, make a good product or think of a better way when your being stiffled by the Big G... The added effort wouldn't be worth it and people would resort to the status quo.
If someone has a service, or product that is actually competition for someone, it will grab a piece of the economic pie...even if a small one...its a big economy.
Best example I know of is Wal mart. Yes, I don't appreciate how they sometimes treat their employee's...but alot didn't like them at first due to the crushing of the mom & pop shops. Problem was, if you asked the average shopper though, they weren't willing to give up their low prices for shopping at Wal-mart for the nestagia or neighborhood stores.
Capitalism isn't always a pretty site, but it works.

Answer 3

First of all, I think you need to understand the difference between regulation and oversight. Regulations can be good or bad for industry. If they aren't enforced it doesn't matter. One of the biggest problems in all of this has been the collapse of the housing market. The problem was that people who couldn't afford to buy homes, received mortgages. This was encouraged by by all presidents going back to Carter through support of the Community Reinvestment Act. This practice was largely made possible by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, government run companies. F and F also started buying up bundled bad mortgages, which further complicated and compounded the problem. As recently as July 2008, House finance chair Barney Frank, said he though F and F were fundamentally sound and their prospects going forward were strong. Do you want him in charge of new financial regulation legislation? It would be helpful if you cited specific deregulation laws and exactly how that deregulation, and not lack of oversight, led to the problems you cite.

Answer 4

Unrestrained capitalism has brought great suffering to the working class in this countries history, and is the direct cause of rebellions and communism in others.

A well regulated free market economy is a thing of beauty, Good companies welcome regulation to keep competition on an even keel - requiring their competitors to not cut costs by pollution or safety carelessness. And they increase confidence by reducing fraud. The prevention of monopolies benefits every person and business.

Answer 5

I firmly believe that the only regulation governing capitalism should be that of the law of supply and demand. Let's face it, if you have what others want, you can pretty much set your own price. But if you are greedy and set that price too high, not only will you get left holding the bag and a reputation, but someone else will surely come along with a similar product or service at a reduced and more affordable price. Capitalism has it's advantages and offers great rewards and privileges.

Answer 6

The problem is that Big Business has enough money to convince citizens that it is in their best interest to give up on their own dreams and let them continue to do "business as usual" without any competition.

If you owned the oil, would you really spend a lot of money letting people know that there are other options?

The "ifs and maybes" that you are talking about have already happened... big business and government are one and the same now...

Answer 7

I don't think some regulations is a bad thing. I also fail to see how having none would result in no competition. It might be a possible outcome in specific industries but certainly wouldn't be widespread........

Answer 8

I think there does need to be some regulation, because "pure" capitalism leads to economic tyrannies.

Answer 9

Too much regulation kills growth and capital. It also can lead to monopolies.

Answer 10

big business confuses people, so that the majority does not oppose monopolies...