Regulation (like most other arguments) gets portrayed as either good or bad. All regulation is good or all regulation is bad. It just doesn’t work that way. In truth some is good and some is bad. Virtually all regulation has a cost. The trick is to figure out whether the benefit outweighs the cost and whether the regulation actually accomplishes the goal.
For example, in 1974 we passed regulation to make automakers install bumpers that would withstand a 5mph crash. The cost of these bumpers added about $750 per car plus the cost of designing these into the car (millions). The bumpers not only add cost but weight and since weight is a major factor in mileage, it reduces that as well. Within a few years the 5mph requirement was dropped to 2½ but the insurance industry is still fighting that. What I find interesting is a suggestion from Ford that instead of the 5mph requirement there would be much more benefit by just making the bumpers meet. In other words a regulation that specified the bumper height would reduce damage more than 5mph requirement and have very little cost.
You may also be surprised to learn that many of the regulations are not opposed by the manufacturers. During the same time that the 5mph bumpers were being disputed, they passed regulation requiring laminated windshields. This was easily agreed and accepted by the auto industry even though it added cost. as did the seat belt regulation. These safety features were not disputed and implemented with little fanfare. The idea that industry fights all regulation is patently untrue.
Where you will see disputes is where regulation provides an advantage to one group over another such as the ‘Cafe Standards’. These standards provided foriegn automakers a distinct advantage and has resulted in the Japanese takeover of our auto industry. To keep from writing a book here I won’t go into how it worked but if asked I will gladly explain.
Reasonable regulation is not the problem. But overzealous and overreaching regulation can kill industry and cost us all more than we know. I’ve posted this before but the total cost of regulation doubles the cost of everything we buy. At least everything we buy that’s made domestically. Cutting that in half would spur the economy beyond anything else we could do and make us competitive internationally. Not to mention bringing home many of those jobs we’ve sent overseas.