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Comment by cannonedhamster | Hacker News Reader

* Flint, Michigan * The Gulf Coast * Anywhere in coal country * Wall Street * TARP

If you really think regulations are made to protect someone other than the poor or middle classes I've got a bridge in Alaska to sell you. The whole point of regulations is that the collective power of the masses protects itself against the wealth of the elite and business interests who don't generally have to live with the results of their actions. Are there stupid regulations? Of course, lots of them. Are there some that just don't plain work? Of course, lots of them. That's why you don't make regulations based on feelings and instead look at what the evidence says.

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> If you really think regulations are made to protect someone other than the poor or middle classes I've got a bridge in Alaska to sell you

If you really think that the collective motivations and incentives behind every regulation can be so easily generalized, then you're no different from free-market zealots unable to appreciate that markets are suboptimal for certain tasks. Regulations can be abused just like any other part of government, and just like any other part of government, this potential for abuse isn't a blanket indictment of the overall concept.

Yup, you're right. I chose a poor choice of words that didn't convey what I had meant to say clearly.

>* Flint, Michigan * The Gulf Coast * Anywhere in coal country * Wall Street * TARP

We've made a really big leap from me suggesting I don't want to force a poor person to get permission from a wealthy person to perform handy-man type jobs around my house to talking about systemic risk problems. That first bit about the poor person requiring permission from a wealthy person is the key factor here, because who do you think is going to push for those regulations? The homeowners? Ehh, maybe the one person who had some bad luck. But the big money pushing those regulations to be written will be monied industry incumbents who don't want poor people to undercut them on easier work.

I've made no leaps about you personally. You're probably a pretty cool person.

> If you really think regulations are made to protect someone other than the poor or middle classes I've got a bridge in Alaska to sell you.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture

> The whole point of regulations is that the collective power of the masses...

'The whole point' != what happens in reality.

> That's why you don't make regulations based on feelings and instead look at what the evidence says.

Sure... except that's rarely what happens in politics.

Yes, your points are all valid and correct. My statement was meant about what they are meant to protect not made to protect. Was a bad word choice on my part and I deserve the criticism of my comment I received.

I don't disagree with what you're saying, but you just listed more anecdotes.

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