Didn’t they undo the assault weapons ban too? I’m Canadian so not real up on stuff down there, but as a gun nut, I do take an interest.
Didn’t they undo the assault weapons ban too? I’m Canadian so not real up on stuff down there, but as a gun nut, I do take an interest.
In addition to getting rid of the 55 MPH speed limit, a common example of a good thing that the U.S. government has undone during the lifetime of Coach Rippetoe is the deregulation of home brewing during the Carter administration. Another leading example that is not talked about enough is the efforts that were made to get foreign auto companies to build manufacturing plants in the U.S., which American workers have benefited from.
Antitrust thought is beginning to evolve. The "free market" view of antitrust until recently had been that the economy and the consumer both suffered when there was government action to break up industry concentrations (such as against Standard Oil, AT&T and IBM). Now, there is concern that business consolidation results in little consumer benefit that is not outweighed by the jobs lost in the process, and that industry concentration results in economic power that is not always used in a benign way and can have a corrupt influence.
Some are cautious that economic regulation, including antitrust, can have the effect of stifling innovation. No doubt about it, but gigantic industry concentrations aren't necessarily hotbeds of innovation, and they have been known to use their economic power and influence to engage in a little innovation-stifling themselves. 100 years after the breakup, some say the heirs of Standard Oil are still too influential, but there doesn't seem to be any consensus that the citizens were made worse off by the use of the blunt tool of antitrust to lessen the dominance of Standard Oil and to create Exxon, Chevron, Arco, Amoco, Mobil, etc.
They are the first beneficiaries, on that I'm sure none would disagree.
Petroleum seems to me to be another prime example.
Since you are a Texas-educated geologist, I defer to your opinion.
If we drill/baby/drill in the U.S. or if we cancel pipelines/leases/etc. and import, either way government officials will be doing their best to benefit.
But if it's onshore, rather than imports, at least the American worker also gets a taste. If it's offshore, not so much--and we don't even get cheaper gas!
Getting rid of regulation, as you point out, has not been an area of many victories, but onshoring is something we have had some intermittent success at.
This is where libertarianism always fails. "I don't want them to break up Amazon because then they may break up Starting Strength."
If the government wanted to break up Starting Strength, they would try to do so regardless of Amazon.
Libertarians always think that by protecting the rights of others, they are protecting their own rights as well. It never, ever has worked that way, ever. And it never will. Sadly I don't think libertarians will ever get that, though.