Maybe in 1970 someone was arguing that Volvo is handicapped because Swedish safety regulations have become so stringent that their cars can’t compete on price elsewhere. Turns out it was exactly Volvo’s strength to be ahead of the curve on regulation.
[0]https://www.ft.com/content/9339d104-7b0c-42b8-9316-72226dd4e...
I've seen a few graphs showing staffing counts and budgets for US regulatory agencies have grown exponentially since the 1970s (adjusted for inflation), while it was relatively flat before then in the 60s. Economic regulation growth in the US has grown steadily while social regulations (workplace, climate, healthcare, transportation etc) grew dramatically. Adding in TSA / Homeland security and it's a hockey stick.
https://regulatorystudies.columbian.gwu.edu/sites/g/files/za...
I'd be curious to see similar charts for the EU.
That's a weird analogy. I don't remember Volvo ever being that big. If anything they're bigger now than they used to be (I mean: I don't remember a world with lots of Volvo when I was a kid... I may be wrong though). And with about 650 000 vehicles sold per year they're not in the Top 25 car manufacturer worldwide by number of cars sold.