The strategic use of regulatory reform is no stranger to
businesses—especially to the strongest both financially and, relatedly,
politically. Such proposals of more regulation are crafted not to benefit the
macro economy or even the industry; rather, the point is to enhance a dominant
firm’s competitive advantage over rivals. It follows that such proposals are
not counter-factual to the thesis that republics are susceptible to the
gravitational pull of plutocracy, the rule of wealth. A case in point is the
U.S. Trump Administration’s consideration of a legislative proposal to
reinstate the main content of the Glass-Steagall Act, which had separated
commercial and investment banking such that a bank could not do both.
Gary Cohn, former number two at Goldman Sachs, talking to U.S. senators on behalf of the Trump Administration.
(source: Andrew Kelly, Reuters)
The full essay is at Strategic Use of Regulation.
